Capital One Arena could be in jeopardy of hosting Washington Capitals and Wizards games soon according to a report that came out today from The Washington Post (subscription required).
The article on The Post was written and contributed by Sam Fortier, Michael Brice-Saddler, Ava Wallace, Jesse Doughtery, and Meagan Flynn. Credit to them for the valuable information.
Opinions as always on this site are our own.
The Capitals have been making headlines on and off the ice and so have the Wizards on and off the court. On the NFL side of things once all systems are go for Josh Harris to take the reign and try to restore the franchise to glory, they are eyeing a return to playing in D.C.
But this is a hockey blog so what about your Caps?
Well there’s apparently some “friction” going on in the city among the teams. Reps from Monumental Spots and Entertainment talked separate with city officials about the funding improvements for facilities including Capital One Arena.
MSE executives have also talked to Virginia government officials to relocate the hockey and basketball team to Arlington, Va.
According to three people with knowledge of the situation the location they’re eying is over by Amazon’s new HQ2 campus.
So far, the Post described it via people familiar with the talks as “preliminary and exploratory.”
They invested in arena improvements in both 2007 and 2017. The first go around was $50 million in public funding. The building first known as MCI Center opened in 1997.
Ted Leonsis, the CEO and Founder of MSE as well as president of external affairs and chief administrative officer met with the D.C. council to improve the arena.
Honestly this has been a crazy week. So many things have happened with the Capitals. The Hershey Bears winning the Calder Cup, a new face as assistant coach, and a new TV network coming in September.
Right when I thought it couldn’t get crazier this news drops. I’m mixed about it. Love Arlington and the Amazon campus aka Jeff Bezo’s land is over in Crystal City. Not far from Clarendon or even Ballston which houses the Caps practice facility MedStar Capitals Iceplex.
But if the move happens it would badly effect the Chinatown area which has been 50/50 since the pandemic but just started improving. Unless Capital One Arena can book some cool concerts.
What makes it a challenge is the city is not obligated to pay for upgrades though the D.C. Council Chair Phil Mendelson (D) called the meeting with Ted and Monica “positive”.
Even though the late Abe Pollin signed a lease that would keep Monumental as occupants of the building through 2047, if things go south that could shrink to 2027.