Under the terms of the deal, D.C. would spend $515 million over three years to help Leonsis modernize the arena and the owner would sign a new lease keeping the teams in D.C. for 25 more years.
D.C. Mayor Muriel E. Bowser shakes hands with Monumental Sports & Entertainment chief executive Ted Leonsis, center, during a news conference to announce the building of a new sports arena in Ward 8 in 2015. The two have reached a deal to keep the Wizards and Caps playing at Capital One Arena downtown. D.C. Mayor Muriel E. Bowser and Ted Leonsis, owner of the Wizards and Capitals, said Wednesday they were finalizing a deal that — if approved by the D.C.
“We appreciated our discussions about how we could grow together,” Bowser said. She said after Leonsis’s announcement that he planned to leave “it became very clear about how our community feels about our teams.”Leonsis credited the mayor with continuing to make progress on improving the business climate downtown. He said after one of his meetings with her, “all of a sudden I really felt like we were in this together and that D.C. — it’s where I wanted to be.
The news comes shortly after the city of Alexandria said Wednesday afternoon that it has stopped negotiations around the proposal to bring the Washington Wizards and Capitals to a new arena at Potomac Yard. While Youngkin quickly struck a rapport with Leonsis as the two put a deal together over the summer and fall of 2023, he never managed to build a solid base of support in the General Assembly — particularly among Democrats who rose to power after claiming majorities in both House of Delegates and Senate in last fall’s elections.
“As Monumental announces today they are staying in Washington DC we are celebrating in Virginia that we avoided the Monumental Disaster! Thank you to everyone who stood with us in this fight!” LucasThe General Assembly adjourned March 9 having snubbed the arena, and Democratic leaders rebuffed Youngkin’s attempts to revive it ahead of a routine April 17 legislative session for considering vetoes and amendments proposed by the governor.
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