That said, fans are not feeling so positive about building a new Wizards practice facility.
Thank you for your responses to this week’s SB Nation Reacts survey. Our results are below!
Wizards fans give positive grades on the D.C. arena deal
Here are our @sbnreacts results. Wizards fans are liking the DC arena deal pic.twitter.com/CYBVBoEvzc
— Bullets Forever (@BulletsForever) April 5, 2024
A combined 69 percent of our over 300 respondents graded Monumental Sports & Entertainment’s move an A or B. Considering that most fans wanted the Wizards to stay, I get it!
Wizards fans grade Steve Buckhantz’s return to Monumental Sports Network an A!
Fans love Steve Buckhantz’s return to Monumental Sports Network even more. pic.twitter.com/qYKo5JdqKA
— Bullets Forever (@BulletsForever) April 5, 2024
Sixty six percent, or nearly two-thirds of Wizards fans gave Buckhantz’s return an A, while another 17 percent gave the move a B. Buckhantz was well loved by Wizards fans when he was the play-by-play announcer. They will be glad to see him back in that capacity on an alternate broadcast.
Less than one in four Wizards fans think that the Wizards actually need a new practice facility
But fans are a bit perplexed about the need for a new Wizards practice facility. pic.twitter.com/FK0r5svrb5
— Bullets Forever (@BulletsForever) April 5, 2024
It’s pretty easy to see why only 23 percent of Wizards fans think that the team needs a new practice facility. The current facility at Congress Heights is just six years old. So moving to a new facility in just ten years seems like a bit overkill.
That said, a new Wizards practice facility may be necessary for the Washington Mystics in particular, who play at the adjoining Entertainment and Sports Arena. WNBA teams are often getting their own practice facilities so it makes sense from that perspective.
But it’s also possible that ESA may expand too. Such a project would likely require the destruction of the current practice facility because it adjoins the side of ESA that doesn’t have double deck seating.
After such a project, don’t assume that the Mystics will be left without a practice facility or to share the Wizards’ one long term. So if ESA is expanded, don’t be surprised to see a new Mystics practice facility as well. Again, WNBA teams, even those without NBA team owners, are building them (or plan to do so).
We will have more surveys in the weeks ahead!
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