The Debrief with Conn Carroll: Why Wizards and Capitals are leaving DC

Washington Examiner Staff

December 17, 12:00 PM December 17, 12:00 PM

Washington Examiner Commentary Editor Conn Carroll joins Investigations Editor Sarah Bedford to discuss how Washington, D.C., has been wrecked by crime and why the Wizards and Capitals are moving out of the district, as well as the border talks occurring in the Senate.

A monumental failure of leadership in DC

Washington Examiner

December 17, 09:20 AM December 17, 09:18 AM

Washington, D.C., Mayor Muriel Bowser has spent over $5 million since 2020 building and maintaining Black Lives Matter Plaza, three blocks of 16th Street leading down to the North Portico of the White House. This costly political statement of support for a fraudulent organization has been made while the mayor's real job of running the nation's capital has been neglected. Carjackings and murder have skyrocketed on her watch.

The cost of Bowser’s misplaced priorities was underlined when the owner of the NHL's Capitals and NBA's Wizards announced that he would leave Washington and take his teams to neighboring Virginia.

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But her performance after hearing the news was not encouraging.

While making an attempt to belittle the transportation options for the new Potomac Yards development, which is serviced by the Yellow and Blue Metro lines, Bowser falsely claimed that the teams’ current Metro station, Gallery Place, was serviced by “every line.” In fact, Gallery Place only has the Red, Yellow, and Green lines. The Silver, Blue, and Orange lines do not service the station. One should be able to assume that the woman who has been serving as mayor for the past eight years would have a firmer grasp on her city’s premier transportation system. But no.

Not wanting to touch on a controversial topic, Ted Leonsis himself has not said publicly that rising crime around Washington's Capital One Arena is a reason he is looking to move his teams elsewhere. But at a town hall meeting in August, one of his organization's managers did just that. “Our revolving door and lack of prosecution has had a negative effect on the community,” Crispus Gordon, Monumental Sports and Entertainment's government relations director, told city leaders. He went on to describe how after one Monumental Sports employee was assaulted in broad daylight, the perpetrator was arrested but was then released shortly thereafter.

If Washington is unwilling to prosecute criminals who prey on its workers, why would any company stay in the city?

That is why the Capitals and Wizards leaving Washington is more than just a sports story. The complex around Capital One Arena used to have a movie theater, a bowling alley, and many bars and restaurants. Now, three years after COVID-19, the summer of BLM riots, and Bowser's subsequent decision to defund the police, the movie theater is gone, so is the bowling alley, and many storefronts are bare.

The hollowing out of the capital's business community is not limited to that area, Chinatown. Vacancy rates across the city are rising as more and more businesses conclude that the cost of dealing with attempted theft and other daily inconveniences and outrages just isn’t worth it.

The first thing Bowser should do to stop the bleeding is rip up Black Lives Matter Plaza and recommit the city to arresting, prosecuting, and incarcerating people who break the law, regardless of their skin color. No one suffers more from lawlessness than low-income racial minority communities. Not only are they hit by the loss of jobs as businesses flee Washington, but the criminals the police release most often live in these communities, and their neighbors are their first victims.

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President Joe Biden could do his part by forcing federal government employees to return to their offices. The more people downtown, the more dining, shopping, and entertainment people will do in the city.

Washington still has Nationals baseball and the Mystics WNBA team, and it could land the Commanders, too. There is even still time to get the Capitals and Wizards back. But it is going to take far more than money to turn the tide. District leaders are going to have to start prioritizing law and order over misguided social justice. If they don't, more businesses will leave.

How Youngkin took the Capitals and Wizards from under DC's nose

Jack Birle

December 14, 04:39 PM December 14, 04:39 PM

Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R-VA) and other Virginia leaders proudly touted a plan alongside Washington Capitals and Wizards owner Ted Leonsis to bring both teams to a new arena in Alexandria, Virginia, leaving Washington, D.C., leaders scrambling to prevent the move.

The Wednesday announcement of a proposed $2 billion sports and entertainment district being built in the Potomac Yard neighborhood of Alexandria required months of behind-the-scenes maneuvering, even as Leonsis negotiated with Washington for renovations to the current home of the Capitals and Wizards, according to a report from Axios.

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The report, citing sources who asked to remain anonymous, said that local leaders were brought into the deal this past summer, speeding up the process of working toward a deal, but that a Nov. 13 meeting between Youngkin and Leonsis in Falls Church put the "final touches" on the deal for the development.

That meeting occurred around the time it was reported that Leonsis had told Washington he was seeking $600 million in funds to renovate the Capital One Arena, the current home of the Wizards and Capitals, in Chinatown.

Washington, D.C., Mayor Muriel Bowser said at a press conference on Thursday that she had been in "serious talks" with Monumental Sports, which owns the two teams, even as Virginia lawmakers were working in the background.

"I want to be clear about something, that we have been in serious talks with Monumental about staying in downtown Washington, staying in Chinatown, and last, over the last several days, you have seen the unanimous support of the D.C. Council," Bowser said. "We have been responsive to Monumental throughout our process, and we have negotiated in good faith with them over the last several months."

Ahead of the announcement of the Potomac Yard plan, which saw a bipartisan group of politicians in attendance, Youngkin had been rallying support from Democrats, including Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA).

As reports of the Potomac Yard proposal circulated on Tuesday, leaders in Washington issued their "best and final offer" to keep the teams in the city, which included $500 million in funds for renovations to the current home of the Wizards and Capitals.

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At her press conference hours after the Virginia announcement, Bowser said she knew the teams moving to Virginia was always a possibility and did believe that the negotiations with Leonsis were in good faith on both sides.

The $2 billion Potomac Yard plan announced on Wednesday calls for a new arena, a 6,000-seat performing arts center, a practice facility for the Wizards, restaurants, hotels, and housing. The development would be located near the Potomac Yard Metro station, which opened in May.

Winsome Sears says crime in DC was 'issue' in Capitals-Wizards arena move

Heather Hunter

December 13, 10:47 PM December 13, 10:47 PM

Virginia Republican Lt. Gov. Winsome Sears cheered on the historic tentative move of the Washington Wizards and Washington Capitals teams to Potomac Yard in Alexandria, Virginia, while also lamenting that Washington, D.C.'s crime wave and safety concerns were a factor in the location change.

"It's not just about money, but you got to talk about the environment. ... What is the surrounding area of the venue?" Sears said to WMAL on Wednesday.

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She added, "If you go to the game and you're having fun but if you leave the game having to look over your shoulder, that's an issue."

According to data from the Metropolitan Police Department, robbery has increased by 69%, violence crime by 40%, and motor vehicle theft by 89% in 2023.

Sears gave credit to Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R-VA) for making Virginia a better place to live and do business.

During an appearance on Fox News, Youngkin called the plan to move the teams to Alexandria "very exciting" and "a good deal for Virginia."

"This announcement this morning I think reflects the fact that companies want to be in Virginia. I mean, we have had Boeing, Raytheon, Lego, and Hilton double down in Virginia. We have had people move to Virginia," Youngkin said to host Laura Ingraham on Wednesday night.

Democratic Washington, D.C., Mayor Muriel Bowser said on Wednesday that her "last best offer" of $500 million to revitalize the arena and keep the teams in the district was still on the table.

Bowser downplayed the significance of crime in the decision, saying the historical crime problem was a “blip” and that they are continuing to work on reducing crime.

Some D.C. Council members shared their dismay on the possible move of the Wizards and Capitals to Virginia.

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“I’m deeply disappointed Ted Leonsis has chosen to move the Wizards and Capitals out of the District. It’s the wrong decision for fans and the teams and undermines decades of goodwill, team pride, and community-building," Councilman Charles Allen said in a statement Wednesday.

Allen added, "Hundreds of thousands of fans have unforgettable memories of their days and nights in and around the arena — from season openers to Stanley Cups. We all have a favorite spot before the game and a go-to bar after. We’ve built traditions there, and our residents have been nothing but devoted to our teams."

DC Mayor Muriel Bowser forgets which Metro lines service arena stop while defending keeping teams downtown

Jack Birle

December 13, 03:58 PM December 13, 03:58 PM

Washington, D.C., Mayor Muriel Bowser forgot which lines on the D.C. Metro service Capital One Arena while trying to argue against the NBA's Washington Wizards and the NHL's Washington Capitals moving to a new arena in Virginia.

Bowser, during a news conference on Wednesday, mentioned that the Potomac Yard metro station in Alexandria, Virginia, near where the proposed arena would be built, was only serviced by the blue and yellow lines. She tried to argue the Gallery Place-Chinatown station, near Capitol One Arena, is served by more lines.

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"I'm not an expert on [Alexandria, Virginia's] crime, but that traffic is notorious. So, people know about it, and I think — which [Metro] lines go to that station? ... Blue and yellow," Bowser said while explaining why Potomac Yard is a less ideal location for an arena.

"So, every line goes to Gallery Place, right? Red, blue, orange, and yellow. Yellow? And green? Is that right? I think that's right," she said.

The Gallery Place-Chinatown station is serviced by the red, yellow, and green lines. Orange and blue line customers must transfer to reach the arena.

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The $2 billion Potomac Yard plan announced on Wednesday calls for a new arena, a 6,000-seat performing arts center, a practice facility for the Wizards, restaurants, hotels, and housing.

The Wizards and Capitals leaving Chinatown would be a blow to downtown D.C., which has struggled to make a comeback since the coronavirus pandemic. Bowser and the D.C. Council announced legislation to provide Capital One Arena $500 million in funds for renovations, which the owner of the Wizards and Capitals had reportedly been seeking.

Washington Wizards and Capitals announce plans to ditch DC and move to Virginia

Jack Birle

December 13, 11:34 AM December 13, 01:44 PM

Monumental Sports CEO Ted Leonsis, along with Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R-VA) and other Virginia leaders, announced plans for a new sports arena in the Potomac Yard neighborhood of Alexandria, Virginia, for the NBA's Washington Wizards and the NHL's Washington Capitals.

The $2 billion plan calls for a new arena, a 6,000-seat performing arts center, a practice facility for the Wizards, restaurants, hotels, and housing. The arena and entertainment district proposal was announced Wednesday at a press conference near the Potomac Yard Metro Station.

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"I have to say, after many years, many years of dreaming, and many years of discussion, I am pleased to announce that right here in Alexandria, Potomac Yard, we have a plan to unleash a brighter, more extraordinary future," Youngkin said at the press conference. "And as part of this amazing project, we will build a spectacular $2 billion sports and entertainment district.

"This visionary sports and entertainment development district will bring together entertainment, sports, and technology like nowhere in the world," the governor added. "This once-in-a-generation historic development will be the best place to live, work, raise a family, and watch hockey and basketball. It also represents an extraordinary economic opportunity over the life of this project, 30,000 new jobs and an estimated $12 billion of economic activity to be generated in the commonwealth and in the city of Alexandria, and this was only made possible through extraordinary teamwork."

Youngkin also said the public-private partnership project would be good for taxpayers in the commonwealth and that there would be "no upfront investment."

"I pledged that any project like this would first and foremost be good for the Virginia taxpayer, and that's exactly what this project represents," Youngkin said. "No upfront investment, harnessing the financial horsepower of the future incremental taxes and other revenues with an estimated $12 billion of economic contribution to Virginia and the city of Alexandria over the coming decades."

Leonsis said the new arena project in northern Virginia is based on Monumental Sports's commitment to the greater D.C.-Maryland-Virginia area and unifying the community.

"What we are about is putting unity in a community and really helping this region bring up to its total promise," Leonsis said.

The project will still need the approval of the Virginia legislature, but if approved, it would break ground in 2025 and open in 2028. The plan is a blow to D.C.'s downtown area, specifically Chinatown, where Capital One Arena, the Wizards and Capitals' current home, is located.

After reports circulated on Tuesday about the Potomac Yard arena proposal, Washington, D.C., Mayor Muriel Bowser announced legislation to provide Capital One Arena $500 million in funds for renovations, which Monumental Sports had reportedly been seeking.

Bowser said in a statement Tuesday that the Hail Mary legislation was the district's "best and final offer" to keep the teams in the city.

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“Downtown DC is the District’s economic engine that provides revenue resources to support important programs in the city,” Bowser said. "Mr. Leonsis and Monumental Sports have been critical partners in keeping our downtown thriving, especially after the pandemic. The modernization of the Capital One Arena will be an invaluable investment for continued success and our future prosperity.

“This proposal represents our best and final offer and is the next step in partnering with Monumental Sports to breathe new life and vibrancy into the neighborhood and to keep the Washington Wizards and the Washington Capitals where they belong — in Washington, DC,” she added.

WATCH LIVE: Glenn Youngkin announces sports arena project in Alexandria, Virginia

Jack Birle

December 13, 09:00 AM December 13, 09:18 AM

Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R-VA) and Monumental Sports are announcing a $2 billion sports arena and entertainment district set to be built in the Potomac Yard neighborhood of Alexandria, Virginia.

The press conference is set to begin at 9 a.m. EST. The plan would bring the NHL's Washington Capitals and the NBA's Washington Wizards out of their current arena in Chinatown in Washington, D.C., to the proposed new facility across the Potomac River.

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“This is the most visionary sports and entertainment development in the world, bringing together entertainment, sports, and technology in the most advanced innovation corridor in the United States: a once-in-a-generation and historic development for the Commonwealth, sports fans, and all Virginians. The Commonwealth will now be home to two professional sports teams, a new corporate headquarters, and over 30,000 new jobs — this is monumental,” Youngkin said in a statement.

The proposal would require the approval of the state legislature. If approved, the arena would break ground in 2025 and open in 2028.

Economists call arena relocation threats ‘extortion’

Morgan Sweeney | The Center Square

August 07, 08:21 AM August 07, 08:21 AM

(Center Square) — Monumental Sports and Entertainment have been in talks this summer of a future move to northern Virginia for some of Washington, D.C.’s professional sports teams if the city doesn’t chip in more for improvements to their sports arena, the Washington Post has reported.

Monumental owns D.C.’s professional hockey and basketball teams, the Washington Capitals, Wizards and WNBA team, the Mystics. The teams currently play in downtown D.C.’s 26-year-old Capital One Arena in Chinatown, but Monumental should be close to paying off the mortgage on the building – and company founder and CEO Ted Leonsis has historically hinted at moving the teams elsewhere once that happens, due largely to dissatisfaction with the financial contributions from the city.

Chris Douglas, an economics professor at the University of Michigan-Flint and a longtime student of stadium economics, says this is a common tactic of sports teams vying for greater public investment in their stadiums.

“There’s a couple of ways that teams extract these subsidies from state and local governments,” Douglas told The Center Square. “First, they threaten to move to a different state.”

“Really, it’s extortion. Teams extort the city and the state to build a new stadium” – or pay for its maintenance – “otherwise they’re leaving,” Douglas said.

University of Maryland Professor of Economics Dennis Coates agrees.

“To characterize these [arrangements] as public-private partnerships is maybe very generous to the idea of what happens. Extortion is probably a more accurate description,” Coates told The Center Square.

“The current case is almost a perfect example of that where the owner says, ‘Oh, I don’t like the facility that I’m in. You fix it for me, or I’m going elsewhere.’ That’s not a partnership.”

Despite this, these types of public-private funding relationships between sports teams, stadiums, arenas and local and state governments are not uncommon. In fact, according to Coates, they may be more of the rule than the exception these days.

“An entirely privately funded stadium is almost, but not quite, a unicorn. They really are not generally privately funded,” Coates said.

And while pricey public-private funding arrangements may not be uncommon, the sports industry might get better deals than most others, as state and local governments often contribute hundreds of millions of dollars to arena construction and give teams special and ongoing breaks regarding taxes and maintenance.

“The local government in Alabama didn’t say to Saturn or BMW, ‘Yeah, come here – we’re going to build you your entire plant,’” Coates said.

“They would say more like, ‘We’re going to give you tax breaks, we’re going to improve the highways in and out of the facility … We’re going to set up training programs so you have the skilled workforce that you need,’ but they’re not looking to pay the billions of dollars for the entire facility.”

Yet teams – and lawmakers – continue to advocate for the investment of taxpayer dollars in arenas and stadium districts, and localities continue to bow to team demands, often citing team-funded studies of stadiums' economic impact on an area.

But according to Douglas, those studies vastly overestimate that impact. Spending is often redirected from local businesses to the arena, and, with all the deals governments give sports complexes – like exemption from property taxes – governments often don’t see much benefit either.

“The overwhelming consensus in the economic literature by people who study these issues is that arenas and stadiums generate basically no economic impact,” Douglas said.

“The reason there’s no economic impact from these stadiums is that they’re just closed way more often than they’re open.”

When teams attempt to pressure localities into devoting more public funds to stadiums, Douglas argues those localities “should just let the team leave,” though he doubts Monumental intends to move.

The social justice-obsessed NBA is about to let Qatar partially own a team

Zachary Faria

June 27, 05:00 PM June 27, 05:00 PM

The NBA’s social justice reputation is completely unearned. If the league allows Qatar to be an investor in one of its teams, it would be yet another reminder of just how morally bankrupt the league is.

As part of a $4.05 billion deal, the Qatar Investment Authority is planning to purchase a 5% stake in Monumental Sports & Entertainment. MSE is the parent company of the Washington Wizards, as well as the NHL’s Washington Capitals, the WNBA’s Washington Mystics, Capital One Arena (where all three teams play), and NBC Sports Washington.

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According to NBA spokesman Mike Bass, all investments require league review, and “the NBA Board is currently reviewing a potential investment by QIA in Monumental Sports & Entertainment.” Bass also preemptively set up the league’s defense if the purchase is approved, saying, “QIA would have a passive, minority investment in the team, with no involvement in its operations or decision-making.” To compare, the NHL already approved of the QIA’s involvement with the Capitals.

In other words, the same NBA that pulled its All-Star festivities from Charlotte because North Carolina legislators said men must use the men’s restroom and not the women’s is now on the verge of allowing a country that criminalizes homosexuality to own a piece of one of its teams. And during Pride Month, no less.

Of course, this is normal for the NBA. Last year the league decided it would hold some preseason games in the United Arab Emirates, where being gay or transgender is illegal and punishable by fines, castration, or death. This is the same league that has partnered with communist Cuba and China for basketball camps and preseason games. At home, the NBA is all about social justice. Abroad, the league will happily sell out to any human rights-abusing authoritarians who show them some money.

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In fact, this wouldn’t even be out of the ordinary for the Wizards. The franchise repeatedly personally honored Chinese Ambassador Qin Gang, whose entire job is to whitewash China’s human rights abuses, up to and including genocide.

All the while, NBA commissioner Adam Silver, as well as the league’s biggest stars, continue to assert that they care oh so deeply about human rights and social justice. It is the most transparent faux activism of any sports league in the country, and NBA figures using the league’s platform for their political hobby horses should be mercilessly ridiculed so long as the league continues to partner with China, Cuba, the UAE, and now Qatar.

Why do the Washington Wizards keep honoring a Chinese Communist?

Zachary Faria

December 29, 09:59 AM December 29, 09:59 AM

The NBA’s groveling to China has slipped from public view in recent months, but the Washington Wizards are doing what they can to remind everyone that the league is in bed with a genocidal regime.

Chinese Ambassador Qin Gang posted a video of him shooting free throws before or after the Wizards’ game against the Philadelphia 76ers. Qin said that he also “renewed our special relationship” with the Wizards, who visited China in 1979 as the Washington Bullets. This is not the first time Qin has been honored by the Wizards, who allowed him to give a video message to the arena in January.

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Qin’s job is to whitewash Chinese atrocities for an American audience, and apparently, that is exactly the kind of person that the Wizards are happy to partner with. In this year alone, Qin has threatened both Taiwan and the United States with military action, said that China was not committing genocide against the Uyghurs, and refused to condemn Russia’s invasion of Ukraine (which China tacitly supports).

So why do the Wizards continue to promote a propagandist for a genocidal regime? NBA Commissioner Adam Silver complained this year that China’s NBA blackout cost the league “hundreds of millions” of dollars. The Chinese Communist Party blacked out the NBA for 18 months after one NBA general manager tweeted in support of protesters in Hong Kong against the CCP. The league’s relationship with China is worth some $5 billion.

While the NBA and teams like the Wizards parrot social justice talking points, the drive for money has subjugated the league to the interests of the CCP. And so the Wizards have no problem repeatedly promoting and honoring a man who serves as a mouthpiece for the regime that is the world’s worst human rights abuser. Sports media outlets won’t press them on this, given how many softballs they have lobbed to Silver on the league’s ties to China, so the Wizards have no problem putting a price tag on human rights.

The NBA will never sever its “special relationship” with China, no matter how many times the league pretends to care about “equality” or “dignity.” China pays the bills, and so China calls the shots in the league’s relationship, which means teams like the Wizards will continue to debase themselves whenever it’s time to cash the checks.

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