Confirmed with Link: Capitals to VA is dead. DC decides to pay $515 million dollars to upgrade capital one

[Neil Racki]

In the end, fandom comes in so many forms.

Obviously, the most intense is “blood, sweat, and tears” on an attended game by game basis. Or a partial package that produces same, on a smaller piece of the pie.

That’s the ultimate, and where the rubber is meeting the road for a few poeple.

Then there is the odd “see a game or 4 this season” crowd. They shouldn’t really be challenged by this, as each game is truly “an experience” for this group, and it’s a planned event regardless of where it really is.

Then there are the fans that aren’t local, like me. We aren’t impacted at all.

It’s all a risk for Ted, but as was mentioned above — the team knows it’s fanbase better than anyone else, so they are acting accordingly.

I really had my panties in a bunch with the announced move. I then read your post and was like "oh snap, im in the 4 games a year group, why are my panties all bunched up irritating my vagina"

And this helped me properly compartmentalize the move.

Im sure this will 100% prevent me of ever buying a 10 game package but for the "4 games a year" crowd .. like you said, its an event anyway so extra planning hoopla whatever is worth it if the experience is awesome.

Thank you for your 4 game comment.

honestly sincerely helped me with my temper tantrum

 

[Ovechkins Wodka]

I feel like it keeps getting harder to watch Caps games. Hopefully Ted has a master plan and makes his subscription policy sustainable for hockey fans.

I don’t think I can watch Caps Pens tonight. From blackouts. I want to watch

 

[Midnight Judges]

I don't think crime is really in any practical calculus of this potential move, imho.

Agree.

I work in DC. I've walked the streets 200 days a year for much of the past 18 years (except for the COVID years).

I've never had a problem. And I go to China town all the time.

 

[Brian23]

I feel like it keeps getting harder to watch Caps games. Hopefully Ted has a master plan and makes his subscription policy sustainable for hockey fans.

I don’t think I can watch Caps Pens tonight. From blackouts. I want to watch

Isn't that more an NHL problem then a Caps one?

 

[John Price]

I don't see how it's so difficult to watch games. You have like 69 games on MSN, the other 82-69 are on cable and like 4 are ESPN+ excluxive. Yes the ESPN+ exclusives suck but that's 4 games you can't watch. Everything else is on ESPN or TNT

 

[CapitalsCupReality]

I don't see how it's so difficult to watch games. You have like 69 games on MSN, the other 82-69 are on cable and like 4 are ESPN+ excluxive. Yes the ESPN+ exclusives suck but that's 4 games you can't watch. Everything else is on ESPN or TNT

Many cord cutters trying to get by with a limited number of streaming services.

Directv + ESPN+/Disney/Hulu bundle takes care of me. If I wasn’t in the area, would be more challenging.

 

[Cappy76]

I'm not in the DC area and directv stream plus the ESPN bundle covers me for all games.

My only tough ones are vs Nashville and Cbus as they get backed out. I never understand why I pay for a sports package and the games get blacked out. But typically I'm able to find them on ballys just lose out on Joe B and Locker on those games.

 

[Calicaps]

I don't see how it's so difficult to watch games. You have like 69 games on MSN, the other 82-69 are on cable and like 4 are ESPN+ excluxive. Yes the ESPN+ exclusives suck but that's 4 games you can't watch. Everything else is on ESPN or TNT

Without a live TV service, I miss out on ESPN broadcast and NHL Network games. Have ESPN+ and Max for TNT, but if it's on live TV exclusively, I'm SOL.

 

[Ridley Simon]

Shirley, you can't be serious. 1B put in a simple savings account at 5% interest = ~50mil annually to live on a small Caribbean isle where I can use my influence to topple the long-standing colonial government (mostly likely french or dutch...wimps). After my dictatorship utopian system is implemented, I can finally watch Caps games in quiet at my own Belgian beer bar with the Swedish ski team. When I die, I'll leave the estate to 100 randomly chosen heirs where they have to compete in a winner-takes-all caged death match. Of course, I'll charge Monumental 500M for the broadcasting rights and these proceeds will be given to the HFboard Caps posters with the least amount of BS statistics posted in the past 10 years.

Deal?

Late to this party here, but come on man. There is no “simple math” when it comes to assets, of which the like we are talking about, for a guy like Ted.

It’s in stocks, it’s in real estate, it’s in company equity, it’s in everything BUT cash. Sure, maybe a small percentage is in cash, but the majority isn’t.

I won’t pretend to assume that I can understand the financial frameworks for someone in this stratosphere — I obv have no clue.

But neither do the rest of us. So dumbing it down to receive applause, that’s not really helpful, IMO.

 

[Ajax1995]

Late to this party here, but come on man. There is no “simple math” when it comes to assets, of which the like we are talking about, for a guy like Ted.

It’s in stocks, it’s in real estate, it’s in company equity, it’s in everything BUT cash. Sure, maybe a small percentage is in cash, but the majority isn’t.

I won’t pretend to assume that I can understand the financial frameworks for someone in this stratosphere — I obv have no clue.

But neither do the rest of us. So dumbing it down to receive applause, that’s not really helpful, IMO.

I’m pretty sure that post was a joke.

 

[Ridley Simon]

Appreciate the optinion but do not get the whole caring thing when it comes to US pro sports owners.

Agreed. Any of us can go and earn the money to buy a Pro Sports Team.

That said, only very few of us do (and I AINT one of them, but that’s not on them)

 

[Ridley Simon]

Nice straw man you've built. I've stated repeatedly that the lack of connectivity is my concern. That's not an issue with every possible location, but it really is with this one. You haven't come close to addressing that, and you clearly won't. You just respond with whataboutism, crying about urban crime in DC, both now and in the past.

I guess we're having different conversations here, so I'm going to give up on talking to you. I'm not gaining anything from it, and you clearly aren't either.

It seems @Ajax1995 point is that the mine from Landover to DC wasn’t the rose garden it turned out to be, at the onset. And I’m sure there were plenty of disgruntled Maryland fans.

But to all worked out. That’s the point, IMO.

Whether it will again is certainly debatable, however, we have an almost 30yr old example to fall back on. And in this context, I don’t know that 30yrs is an outrageous number to compare to

 

[StrikingDistance]

Late to this party here, but come on man. There is no “simple math” when it comes to assets, of which the like we are talking about, for a guy like Ted.

It’s in stocks, it’s in real estate, it’s in company equity, it’s in everything BUT cash. Sure, maybe a small percentage is in cash, but the majority isn’t.

I won’t pretend to assume that I can understand the financial frameworks for someone in this stratosphere — I obv have no clue.

But neither do the rest of us. So dumbing it down to receive applause, that’s not really helpful, IMO.

Can't think of any post recently in this thread that was 'helpful'. Just the typical venting and complaining...are they helpful? Adding some humor to this board when I'm bored is the only thing that keeps me sane reading everyone else's posts. TETO right?

 

[Ridley Simon]

Please no, that would be a disaster. And why would you want to move away from the branding that won a cup not that long ago.

Well, I would do this. If it meant going backwards — the old jerseys from true pre black/bronze/blue days. Old Capitals logo, and old Capitals colours.

….. with a healthy dose of those other colours coming back as Alt 3rds (I’ve long wanted either “Capitals” jersey (original or current) to be done in Black or Blue. How bomb would those be?

Can't think of any post recently in this thread that was 'helpful'. Just the typical venting and complaining...are they helpful? Adding some humor to this board when I'm bored is the only thing that keeps me sane reading everyone else's posts. TETO right?

Totally. I didn’t recognize the tongue in cheek commentary for what it was. My bad and please, don’t mind me. LOL

And PS — maybe one of my posts did help someone above. It could have been sarcasm, but I didn’t take it as such (not that jaded anymore, like I used to be).

 

[alphabetical]

It seems @Ajax1995 point is that the mine from Landover to DC wasn’t the rose garden it turned out to be, at the onset. And I’m sure there were plenty of disgruntled Maryland fans.

But to all worked out. That’s the point, IMO.

Whether it will again is certainly debatable, however, we have an almost 30yr old example to fall back on. And in this context, I don’t know that 30yrs is an outrageous number to compare to

And my point is that the criticisms are different. The only criticism Ajax can come up with is urban crime, which can be addressed with extra cops for thousands of dollars per game/event. The criticisms of the Potomac yards site are a lack of connectivity/basic services, which would cost hundreds of millions if not billions of dollars to address.

I understand that you want to make this comparison for simplicity's sake, but it's apples and oranges. Not all problems are equal.

 

[Ajax1995]

And my point is that the criticisms are different. The only criticism Ajax can come up with is urban crime, which can be addressed with extra cops for thousands of dollars per game/event. The criticisms of the Potomac yards site are a lack of connectivity/basic services, which would cost hundreds of millions if not billions of dollars to address.

I understand that you want to make this comparison for simplicity's sake, but it's apples and oranges. Not all problems are equal.

So you are speculating on how crime ‘can’ be combatted and not actually speaking from experience of how Chinatown actually evolved around the current arena over many years to be what it is today?

My point is that it took years for that area to start turning around and eventually become pretty great. I’m confident that over a similar time frame the transportation issues you see today will be mitigated similarly.

 

[usiel]

I think the next news drop we'll have is when VA state government convenes here in January to see what kind of hostage taking will happen.

 

[VaCaps Fan]

I will miss the capital one metro experience.

 

[dreadpirateroberts]

Home

A Monumental Opportunity for Alexandria and Virginia

monumentalopportunity.com

New website for the project has gone live

 

[usiel]

Talk about being right on top of Reagan National. I've always wondered if teams coming in did through Dulles or Reagan National.

 

[alphabetical]

Talk about being right on top of Reagan National. I've always wondered if teams coming in did through Dulles or Reagan National.

It's funny that they're creating an outdoor concert venue at the end of the runway.

 

[usiel]

It's funny that they're creating an outdoor concert venue at the end of the runway.

I believe that extra venue is fully enclosed. I do dig those venues that are between a club and an 18k arena capacity wise. Seeing that the target strip wall and its parking lot are between it that residential area across route 1 it seems to me if they can iron out traffic improvements/metro that they might be able to pull it off.

 

[John Price]

Ted wrote a really long email today. highlight.



Monumental Sports & Entertainment has always been about the entire DMV. The media market for the Capitals and Wizards spans from Richmond, VA to southern Delaware. Virginia has almost 9 million residents, Maryland has over 6 million residents, Washington, DC has almost 700,000 residents. These are the people we are servicing. The global companies that define our region come from all three jurisdictions. To name a few: In Virginia - Leidos in Reston, Capital One in Tysons, and Hilton in McLean. In Maryland, Marriott in Bethesda, Lockheed Martin in Bethesda, and T. Rowe Price in Baltimore. Danaher Corporation, The Carlyle Group and the largest of them all, the federal government, are all in Washington, DC.

Between the Capitals and the Wizards, 44% of fans who attend games are from Virginia, 41% are from Maryland and 15% are from Washington, DC. The teams represent the DMV, and they belong to the entire DMV. This will never change.

Additionally, twenty percent of our employees live in Washington, DC, forty-two percent of our employees live in Maryland, and thirty-one percent live in Virginia, with the remaining seven percent distributed across other jurisdictions.

I disagree with claims that this project would move the teams in a way that will reduce accessibility for fans. The Entertainment District will be 4.5 miles from Capital One Arena, 2.6 miles from the Washington, DC border, under one mile from Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, one of the most accessible major metropolitan airports in the United States, and a couple hundred feet from the newly opened Potomac Yard-Virginia Tech Metro Station. Significant efforts are being made to study and optimize transportation options. The Entertainment District will be in a vibrant and central location for our fans, accessible by Metro, car, with 2,500 underground parking spaces, dedicated rideshare drop off, water taxi, walking, running, and bike trail.

 

[John Price]

full letter A Letter From Ted Leonsis - Monumental Sports

 

[kicksavedave]

full letter A Letter From Ted Leonsis - Monumental Sports

He obviously heard the public complains and dissatisfaction. As its been said already, no move in any direction would be met with applause from everyone - any move will piss off a chunk of fans. But its certain that they understood where there fans were, and how this would impact them. The loudest voices on the internet simply don't represent the majority, they never have. Sure a portion of fans will lose in the move, but overall, the health of the franchises will be better, and that includes their overall fan base.