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Ted Leonsis-owned Washington Valor becomes second DC Sports team to win a championship this year

By Ian Oland

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July 28, 2018 11:55 pm

Sure there are only four teams, and sure Ted Leonsis owns two of them, but Saturday night, the Washington Valor pulled off a #nice upset in ArenaBowl XXXI to become league champions for the first time.

The Leonsis-owned Valor, who finished 2-10 during the regular season, defeated the Leonsis-owned Baltimore Brigade 69-55 at Royal Farms Arena to give Leonsis his first Foster Trophy.

“It’s one of the rare times in sports I can sit back and say I can’t lose because we own both teams,” Leonsis joked, according to WTOP, heading into the game. “We are very, very focused helping to restart and re-imagine what the Arena Football League can be.”

Ten years ago, the AFL had 17 teams and averaged close to 13,000 fans per games. Leonsis is attempting to restart the sputtering league after a painful offseason which saw one team fold and another team go on hiatus. In the AFL’s heyday, rock star Jon Bon Jovi owned the Philadelphia Soul and games could be watched on ESPN.

Saturday night, the Valor finished the 2018 season strong, watching quarterback Arvell Nelson run for five touchdowns and pass for three more to lead Washington to victory.

The Valor became the second DC area sports team to win a championship in a little over a month. In early June, the Washington Capitals defeated the Vegas Golden Knights in the Stanley Cup Final to become the first big-four DC sports team to win a championship since 1992.

Just like the Capitals did in the month prior, the Valor played We Are The Champions and drank Bud Light from their championship trophy.

District of champions, indeed.

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