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

[John Price]

Pros of the move to VA

Vibrant community. DC and the Chinatown area have been decaying. Yes the Verizon Center helped reinvigorate Chinatown which was pretty lackluster before. Many businesses opened around downtown by the stadium. It was good for the economy. Forward to today, Caps will move by a new Amazon HQ2 in a growing area and hope to foster development there.

The move also is like 4 miles to the west of the current location, literally just across the river.

Cons

Travel. VA folks aren't affected as bad but Route 1 for car users is going to be jammed. Red Line users are particularly f***ed. I used to live in Silver spring before moving to VA. I would take the Red Line as a STH down from Forest Glen to Gallery Place. It was like 25 minutes. That ride would be much longer if I were riding to Potomac Yard. Would have to transfer at Rosslyn, and ride down.

Taxes and how much VA users are going to pay for it.

 

[Calicaps]

Awful news. Keep DC teams in DC. The current location is glorious. Three (or is four now) Metro lines all go directly to the building. The whole area was revitalized by the arena and needs that boost again to come back post-Covid. And also, the traffic in VA is already horrible and this will not help.

 

[Random schmoe]

Here I thought it was all an extortion attempt. Also they just did build out a new studio for monumental near cap one also though that probably does not matter much.

Agreed with the Rt. 1 traffic sentiments but I wonder if the metro staying in close proximity is the calculation. I mean that is not like an interesting or cool stretch so feels pretty weird if this all pans out.

Will confess I thought the same. Just something to remind the DC Council that he had options to spur something along, with no real intent on playing that card.

But a businessman like Ted should always be prepared to follow through on threats. And it sounds like he is. He gave them several months, publicly, with who knows what discussions behind the scene and for how long.

We'll see if the Council's "last and final" offer tonight was enough. I don't think so, I think the deal is done.

 

[CapitalsCupReality]

Did he even threaten? DC appears to have acted way too late and that’s a shame.

 

[DWGie26]

Read Caps Personnel thread earlier. Took a break and then saw this thread and was like WTF… I’ve seen all of these posts. Haha. Now I see why.

And all of this hate for Leesburg and Ashburn. That would be glorious for me!

 

[stanleycaps18]

DC has ponied up. So is it enough, or is the move a done deal? I guess we will find out overnight or before 9:00am on Wednesday when Leonsis and Youngkin are supposed to be announcing the Potomac Yards deal.

 

[WcRoenick97]

Bowser is such a clown trying to save face. I don’t retract my statement on Ted earlier but DC played a stupid game and won a stupid prize. DC back on its way to the 80s/90s.

 

[Holtbyisms]

Pretty lame if it goes down. Our barn is historic. It's still in great shape too. Ted chasing that nova money. Disappointing.

 

[usiel]

The WaPo write up seems like it is happening. Though VA State Dems are already quoted has wanting some concessions on other VA politics to fully support it so lots of hoops. Also the City of Alexandria would need to approve all the stuff also and we all know how self-important they are.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2023/12/12/monumental-sports-capitals-wizards-alexandria-youngkin-arena/

But the city’s proposal may be too late. One person who was briefed on the Alexandria deal said a Virginia stadium authority would own the larger mixed-use complex and lease it to Monumental. The “little mini-city development” would also include a smaller concert venue and a “huge” underground parking area, that person said. It would be built on land owned by real estate developer JBG Smith.

The state’s Major Employment and Investment Project Approval Commission, which is made up of a dozen Virginia lawmakers, voted unanimously Monday afternoon to approve the plan, according to two people with knowledge of the negotiations. Any deal between the state and Monumental would require additional approval from the full General Assembly and the Alexandria City Council.

Leonsis has for several years complained about having a mortgage with unfavorable terms on Capital One Arena, which in 2016 he estimated cost him $36 million annually. He called it “the worst building deal in professional sports” and suggested that he could leave the city when he paid off the mortgage.

 

[WanderingCapsFan]

No point than other to say that I spent years driving from Herndon, VA to the Capital Center. In rush hour.

You can't please everyone.

 

[DWGie26]

This has potential to be a shit show. I suspect there is a lot of flexing going on here. You know it pained Bowser to say all those nice things about Ted/MSE. Might be too late for DC.

Ted is into building an entertainment empire. He could build a really cool vision in Alexandria. He is a tech/multimedia guy so you know it would be cool. I don’t think chasing VA money… just chasing money in wheelhouse.

 

[Vilica]

Looking at Capital One calendar for occupancy:

April 9/21
May 3/28
June 2/28
July 3/28
August 5/26
September 12/18
October 17/14
November 23/7
December 21/10
January 20/11
Feb 18/11 (Leap Year)
March 21/10
April 10/5

Arena unbooked most of April/May due to potential playoff runs. Also, surprisingly unbooked last summer too (I seem to remember something about Capital One being the busiest arena in the world at some point in time, which doesn't really comport with 10 total bookings in June, July and August). Moving to Potomac Yard loses all the Georgetown CBB bookings, and the concerts that book arenas would probably split between Cap One and the new one. You figure a floor of 100 dates and a ceiling of 175 or so.

Looking elsewhere, there's a bunch of caterwauling about the difference in Metro times, but it really isn't that bad. Red Liners would still travel to Gallery Place, only now they'd have a transfer to the Yellow Line and a 17 minute ride to Potomac Yard. If you look at it in comparison to Nats Park, Navy Yard is a 7 minute trip from Gallery Place. That extra transfer doesn't really stop many Marylanders from going to Nationals games, and the time difference is only 10 minutes each way.

Orange/Silver (from VA, who presumably now travel to Metro Center) would now stop at Rosslyn. The trip to Metro Center from there is 9 minutes, with Gallery Place being 2 minutes further, plus the transfer. Potomac Yard is a 15 minute trip, plus the transfer, so we're talking an extra 4 minutes, or comparing however long it takes to walk from Metro Center to the arena to the transfer plus 6 minutes.

What we should really be asking for is a new Potomac bridge connecting 295 and the GW Parkway at the southern tip of Bolling, right down Cooley/Oberlin and across, to allow Beltway travelers to bypass Old Town and connect directly to the area.

 

[IafrateOvie34]

Will it have an organ?

 

[bacchist]

I'd like to state upfront I dislike public money giveaways for stadiums, though an 82+ night venue (whether baseball or NBA/NHL) is much more economically viable than the boondoggle that is an NFL stadium. Whatever giveaway politicians are granting Leonsis is too much.

On the other hand, reading the national reaction of people wildly unfamiliar with DC geography has been quite funny, with people assuming the arena is in like Leesburg, rather than essentially just 4 miles south. I mean, if you're a DC-absolutist, it's still within the boundaries of the original DC land grant. Also, as someone who'd be coming from Franconia-Springfield, that location would tempt me to attend way more games. 15 minute Metro ride to Potomac Yard, figure 15 minutes entering/exiting arena apiece, could leave at 6pm and be home by 1030pm. I'd get to experience what you Red Line people have done for Capital One all these years, with no transfer.

I'm a "red line person" and if I left at 6pm, I'd miss the first period. That's before relocation...

 

[g00n]

I don't know the area that well but it seems like it's perfectly suited to host incoming teams/etc via the nearby airport and hotels and what should eventually be an entire support network.

The sports megaplex near the water/airport etc seems like something modern NFL teams are moving toward, so maybe Ted is trying to beat Josh Harris to the punch on that location. I don't know if there's been any talk from the Commanders camp about that spot but it seems very coincidental that Monumental springs this on everyone in the first year Snyder is gone and relocation of the Commanders is back on the table.

 

[John Price]

The more I think about it the more I accept this especially with the downturn in DC.

Will the Leonsis presser be streaming?

 

[CapitalsCupReality]

Who leaves for a game only an hour early? I leave (home) at 5pm for a 7pm game. Home by 1030-11 if the game doesn’t run long.

 

[John Price]

It's really not that bad if you live in VA. Rosslyn to blue line, done.

press conference is here Youngkin to speak at Potomac Yard as lawmakers unveil dueling bids for future of Wizards and Capitals

may also be on youtube so if you all find a stream go ahead

 

[VaCaps Fan]

I leave from Richmond at least five hours before game time.

 

[Brian23]

Capital Centre (Landover, Maryland) - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

VA fans had to drive into Maryland for years too see a much worse team. Maryland fans can pay back the favor for a better team.

 

[John Price]

I leave at 3, 3:30 at most

I'm also coming from Ashburn-ish.

Get there around 4:30 which may seem early but I also have to eat outside the arena which takes 30 minutes, then get in line for warmups, which takes 50 minutes, then warmups before the game.

Usually don't get back until 10:50 if lucky. Last game I went to on Thursday didn't get back until midnight because of the 8 pm start

 

[VaCaps Fan]

You were lucky, I got back at 2:00 am!

 

[John Price]

 

[bacchist]

Capital Centre (Landover, Maryland) - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

VA fans had to drive into Maryland for years too see a much worse team. Maryland fans can pay back the favor for a better team.

Nah. I'll just save a hundred bucks on beer/food, god knows how much on ticket prices, and a hours of my time, and watch them from the comfort of my own home.

 

[John Price]

2 billion dollar sports and entertainment district, Youngkin says