Leonsis maintains that he kept lines of communication open with D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser after announcing a proposed Virginia move. In addition, both Leonsis and Bowser allayed concerns that the parties had bad blood, etc. during these talks.
On Monday evening, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser and Monumental Sports & Entertainment CEO Ted Leonsis made a joint announcement about a $515 million deal to renovate Capital One Arena. In addition, Monumental Sports will also get an extra 200,000 square feet of space in Gallery Place to expand.
Bowser announced that the extra 200,000 square feet of space will be an opportunity for the Washington Wizards to build a new practice facility. If that space is not sufficient, the city would also offer another site.
With the Wizards moving to another site, Bowser also addressed one of Monumental Sports’ concerns with the Washington Mystics, who play at the Entertainment and Sports Arena which only seats 4,200 people. The District is open to expanding that arena to make it a larger hub for events in Congress Heights and Ward 8.
In the press conference, Leonsis also announced that the Wizards and Capital will stay at Capital One Arena through 2050, which he describes as a lease for “the rest of my life.” In addition, Leonsis said that he was in regular negotiations with Bowser, even after announcing an Alexandria arena proposal with Va. Governor Glenn Youngkin in December 2023. Leonsis said that many of the talks were at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in downtown.
When answering media questions, Leonsis also maintained that there were no signed deals with Virginia or Washington, D.C. until earlier today during the announcement with Bowser. Youngkin was understanding about the fact that Leonsis wanted to maintain flexibility with negotiating with D.C. or Virginia since last Virginia. That flexibility worked to Leonsis and Monumentals’ advantage, because the organization would have a “whiteboard” of what each jurisdiction would offer.
And since December, Leonsis said that D.C. had done everything right.
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