The Washington Capitals and Washington Wizards appear ready to call Northern Virginia their new home in the not so distant future.
Per reporting from 7News’ Scott Abraham, Ted Leonsis, the owner of both teams under parent organization Monumental Sports & Entertainment, will be attending an event at Potomac Yard on Wednesday alongside Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin to officially announce the plans.
It's happening.
The Caps and the Wizards are expected to leave D.C. for Northern Virginia.
Sources tell @7NewsDC that Ted Leonsis will be attending an event at Potomac Yard tomorrow alongside Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin.
It will start at 9am.https://t.co/B13TidegoL
— Scott Abraham (@Scott7news) December 12, 2023
The event comes after a “Yea” vote on the proposal was received by Virginia’s MEI Project Approval Commission on Monday. Reporting from after the result of that vote revealed that MSE and Leonsis have been involved with the planning of the relocation from the start. All that remains to get the moving process underway is additional approval from the full Virginia General Assembly and Alexandria City Council.
Abraham adds that the event is expected to start at 9 am on Wednesday. An executive with MSE reportedly told 7News that the two parties are calling the announcement, “A framework for a partnership.”
The potential new home for both the Capitals and Wizards will be located in a sports district in Alexandria’s Potomac Yard neighborhood that would include a new arena that both teams would use, an additional 3,000-seat music and entertainment venue, a conference center, hotels, and the headquarters for MSE. It’s being called a “massive mixed-use development.”
The giant complex would be walking distance from the new Potomac Yard/Vt Metrorail Station that opened last May, serving both the Blue and Yellow Lines. The site is approximately six miles southwest of Capital One Arena.
This huge news comes after there have not been any recent updates on MSE’s desire to receive up to $600 million in city funding from DC to renovate Capital One Arena. Leonsis has long been critical of his current agreement with Cap One, calling “the worst building deal in professional sports” back in 2016 due to high, annual mortgage payments. He threatened then to move his teams but eventually walked back those comments.
Outside of those negotiations, one of the main factors that has seemingly pushed MSE to Northern Virginia involves a perceived lack of progress or development in the area around Cap One. A Washington Post report from last month states that Leonsis has been particularly bothered by buskers playing loud music outside his office.
To fully complete the move to NoVa, MSE will first need to pay off the $35 million bond on their Cap One ground lease. Per that same Post article, that lease currently runs until 2047, but would revert to a 2027 end date if the bond is paid off. MSE would also then need to dump hundreds of millions of its own dollars into the relocation project with their teams playing there as soon as 2028.
The current plans have the Washington Mystics, Capital City Go-Go, and other concerts and events remaining in DC. MSE will also maintain a presence through District E, an esports and entertainment venue, that they held a Grand Opening for last March.
Relocation plans for two of the area’s major sports teams come as almost the entirety of the professional sporting world in the DMV is in flux. Less than a week ago, David Rubenstein, who Leonsis was rumored to be in partnership with for a bid to buy MLB’s Washington Nationals, was revealed to be in serious talks to buy the Baltimore Orioles.
The Nationals’ current sale status remains in limbo as the Lerner family has been quiet about their exact desires for the team. Leonsis reportedly offered over $2 billion to buy the team at the end of 2022 and expressed interest in buying out MASN, the TV network that airs both Nationals and Orioles games.
Leonsis now has his own TV network after buying NBC Sports Washington and renaming it Monumental Sports Network before the start of the 2023-24 NHL and NBA seasons. A full-fledged TV studio for the network is currently being built right next door to Capital One Arena inside Gallery Place which is expected to open in 2024.
The NFL’s Washington Commanders are also just months removed from being sold to an investment group led by Josh Harris. They are undergoing their own potential relocation process as they seek to get out of FedExField in Landover, Maryland. DC Mayor Muriel Bowser has held steadfast with her vision to have a new stadium built for the Commanders on the grounds where RFK Stadium currently stands.
As things currently stand, Virginia remains the largest state in the country without a major league sports franchise. If this project moves forward, they’ll be adding two before 2030.
Update (8:20 pm): Mayor Bowser and the DC Council have made a seemingly last gasp attempt at keeping the Capitals and Wizards in DC. A statement from Bowser’s office has been released outlining a $500 million counter offer for the “renovation and modernization” of Capital One Arena.
The modernization of the Capital One Arena will be an invaluable investment.
With unanimous support from the DC Council, this proposal represents our commitment to keeping the Washington Wizards and the Washington Capitals where they belong – in Washington, DC.
— Mayor Muriel Bowser (@MayorBowser) December 13, 2023
Headline photo: Ian Oland/RMNB
