Top 3 pros of Capitals moving to Virginia

Yesterday I looked at the top 3 cons of the Washington Capitals potential move to Virginia. Today I’ll look at the good things about the move that is anticipated to be fully completed in 2028. While the Capitals as well as the NBA’s Wizards would vacate Capital One Arena when that timeframe arrives, the building on 7th and F Street will still be open for Georgetown and Mystics games as well as concerts.

#3 Modern building

As convenient as it is going to Capital One Arena for a Capitals game, the building itself is getting up there in age. With new arenas and stadiums opening up across sports, the building that opened in 1997 is now among one of the oldest in the NHL.

Everything needs an update. If the city couldn’t provide enough money to upgrade Capital One Arena, a move by Ted Leonsis was always imminent. Leonsis has complained on the record about the lease he pays and even said some things about the noise from the street performers.

I have no issue with the street performers when walking around the city or arena, but I can see Ted having a “get off my lawn” type attitude. While the new building will be cool, take the metro because I imagine traffic will be a nightmare.

#2 Sports only facility

Modern buildings call for better fan experiences, at least when you’re inside. Can’t speak for the traffic or metro commute yet. Leonsis said at the press conference Wednesday morning: 

“We want to build the most fan-friendly experience. We want to build our brand and our business and, frankly, I’ve tried to build my career on being first and being an innovator. … I got goosebumps again when we came here a week ago and just looking out at all of the expansion capabilities: on water with the (Ronald Reagan Washington National) airport across the street and a brand-new Metro stop. That primordial set of ingredients can really create what we think we can build really the exemplar new experience and we’ll see we’ll be very on trend because this is what we’ll have to do in professional sports.”

What makes this building unique is it’ll be strictly for NHL and NBA contests. There will be a building adjacent to it that will be a concert hall for the music fans. The concert hall/performing arts venue will seat 6,000. The arena itself is around 20,000 in seats.

The company developing the construction is JBG Smith. In addition to the new sports and concert venue it’ll also include a new Wizards practice facility, corporate headquarters for Monumental Sports and Entertainment, a media studio for the brand new Monumental Sports Network, and an eSports facility.