Ted Leonsis says “the die is cast” on the Washington Capitals and Washington Wizards’ controversial move to Alexandria, Virginia. Leonsis made the remarks in an interview with WUSA 9’s Eric Flack that aired on Wednesday.
The new arena’s financing plan in Potomac Yard still needs Yes votes from both the Virginia state and local government levels.
Leonsis has been criticized by fans on social media, who believe the new location would increase travel times to games and also turn its back on DC. The Monumental Sports & Entertainment founder is now trying to take those complaints head-on.
“I’ve been hurt but that’s my personality,” Leonsis said to WUSA9 of the criticism. “I’m not your typical average businessperson. I care what people think.”
Outside of his sit down with WUSA 9, Leonsis has also spoken with NBC 4.
“[W]e’re three and a half miles away,” Leonsis said. “I don’t believe I’m abandoning DC. That’s probably something that maybe I misunderstood. And I’ve been asked, well, what about the small business owners here? They’re not my constituency. My constituency are our fans, the players, the employees, the union workers–and they’re all going to benefit dramatically.”
Monumental, his company, has created a website entitled Monumental Opportunity and a Twitter account to provide “fact checks” regarding “misconceptions and myths” about the project.
One of those “myths” is a point many fans have brought up as a complaint: that the move would take the two teams out of the city in their names and further away from their fanbases.
https://twitter.com/monumentalalx/status/1755319046239641779
Traffic and parking issues could arise from the arena’s location, especially when considering its proximity to Reagan National Airport and Route 1. Some Virginia residents will even have a longer commute to games now than they do to Capital One Arena.
“We want to be a solution to the traffic,” Leonsis told WUSA 9. “We’ve been looking at best practices on all of the arenas where it works and traffic is mitigated. And so I’m looking forward to being a part of a solution and not being additive.”
Leonsis also touched on plans to help modify the Potomac Yard Metro station to better accommodate the massive amount of traffic it will start seeing. He referenced the changes the Nationals made to the Navy Yard stop when they moved into their new digs as inspiration. That would include the addition of new elevators and escalators as well as creating more paths of entry and exit out of the station.
As things currently stand, the Capitals and Wizards are set to move into the new “world-class entertainment district” by 2028. Construction will be funded via a still-pending-approval $2.8 billion loan from the commonwealth along with Monumental and the city of Alexandria also contributing a combined $500 million.
https://twitter.com/monumentalalx/status/1755707163299787203
