The Washington Wizards, the NBA basketball team, and the Washington Capitals, of the NHL, the roller hockey league, will remain in the District of Columbia, in their current home of the Capital One Arena, in the center of the city. The plans of the owner of those teams, Ted Leonsis, to take them to Alexandria (Virginia) have been derailed. The governor of Virginia, Republican Glenn Youngkin, has not been able to convince the regional legislature, in Democratic hands, to approve his $2 billion plan, which included strong incentives, rebates and aid.
Ted Leonsis, with his company Monumental Sports & Entertainment (MSE), now accepts the offer from the mayor of the District of Columbia, Muriel Bowser, which he had previously spurned. Both signed a letter of intent this Wednesday afternoon and later appeared at a press conference in the sports hall itself to celebrate an agreement valued at $515 million. That money will basically be used to modernize the Capital One Arena, opened in 1997. The teams agree to stay in the city until 2050.
The project includes expanding the stadium by 18,580 square meters into the nearby Gallery Place retail and entertainment space, creating an entertainment district in the Chinatown neighborhood, and improving security and transportation. For Mayor Bowser, it was essential to retain the Wizards and the Capitals at a time when many downtown businesses have closed and insecurity is on the rise. “We made a great offer, and we kept it on the table, because we knew from the beginning that the city and the teams would win. This is a catalytic investment in downtown DC,” Bowser said.
For his part, Leonsis has been playing on both sides. He wanted the Virginia plan, because it seemed the most profitable, but at the same time it had fewer guarantees, so he was very careful not to close the door to the capital, which had to increase its offers, which ended up benefiting it.
“I look at the results, not the process, and we have arrived at the right result,” Leonsis said. “I know it’s been a difficult process and I want people to understand how much I love Washington DC and how much I’ve always loved Washington DC,” he added.
The businessman’s recent tweets with praise for the Capital One Arena already hinted that something was brewing. “On Monday night, Zach Bryan’s concert was the largest in @CapitalOneArena history with 20,280 people enjoying the show,” he wrote. He also tweeted that the venue had received more than 325,000 spectators so far this month between concerts, hockey and basketball games. “Each of these events brings the community together, supports thousands of jobs, and generates significant tax revenue for the city,” he tweeted, as if it had never been his plan to move the Wizards and Capitals from their location. MSE was willing at all times to keep the Washington Mystics, the WNBA team, the women’s basketball league, at the Capital One Arena.
The plan to move to Virginia had run aground in the state legislature. In addition, the Council of the District of Columbia had warned that, in its interpretation of the original agreement, the Wizards and the Capitals could not leave their headquarters until 2047, which increased the legal uncertainty of a hypothetical transfer, as it exposed the company to city demands.
Given the blockade and the change in conditions that were being imposed on the transfer plan in Richmond, the capital of Virginia, the city that was going to be the new headquarters of the teams has gotten off the wagon. “The City of Alexandria has ended negotiations related to the Potomac Yard entertainment district opportunity and the proposal will not move forward,” announced through a statement.
The news is a hard blow for the Republican governor of Virginia, Glenn Youngkin, who expressed his displeasure with another note: “Virginians deserve better. “A one-of-a-kind project that would have brought world-class athletes and entertainment, created 30,000 jobs and $12 billion in economic activity has just vanished,” he stated. “Personal and political agendas ruined an agreement without initial money from the general fund and without tax increases (…). Congratulations to Monumental for reaching a great agreement, I regret that it will not be in Virginia,” he added.
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