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The billionaire said, “Hold me accountable,” and then snuck out the side door.
Just as he left the downtown building, he said he wanted to stay there for at least 15 years. And just as he rejects the city that once inspired his aspirations to lead and manage and do what is right for its people.
Ted Leonsis made such a sentimental waste about five years ago. At a summer day filled with celebration as tens of thousands of people gathered on the National Mall. They were united by one of those rare things that can make strangers cry, hug and cheer together: the joy of a city's team winning a championship. And Leonsis, the majority owner of this stimulus, was overwhelmed. Standing on a constructed stage with red spots as far as his eyes could see, Leonsis told the crowd that he has always just wanted to look at the people his teams served and see the love reflected in them.
But on a cold Wednesday morning in a pop-up tent somewhere in the suburbs, all the District of Columbia could see was betrayal.
There he was, the owner of the Washington Wizards and 2018 Stanley Cup champion Washington Capitals, on another stage, meandering through disingenuous claims about uniting communities and being a good neighbor.
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“That’s the highest calling in everything we do,” Leonsis said, “to build that legacy of winning championships by asking our fans to do the right things in the right way so that people can become the community, in who they live can appreciate.” ”
But Leonsis makes these promises to the Potomac Yard in Alexandria. He no longer wants the light of his goodwill to shine on Chinatown and Gallery Place, the neighborhood in the heart of DC. In the years following the pandemic, Chinatown's challenges around the arena led to everyday scenes of homelessness, open drug use, and crime. When Capital One opened in 1997, it revitalized the neighborhood. If the arena loses its two largest tenants, it wouldn't be hard to imagine a relapse into a ghost town.
However, in 2018, Leonsis bragged about staying, telling the Washington Business Journal, “Since I've owned the building, I've spent $110 million on renovations… I could see us spending another $100 million on it in the coming years.” Spend infrastructure and technology here.” . My goal: The building will be 20 years old – I want to make it another great 20 years.”
It turns out Leonsis didn't want to wait that long for city leaders to help him repair his arena. So Leonsis, like a child who has been spoiled by “yes” all his life and the owner of the shiny toy that all the other kids in the neighborhood want to play with, grabbed his teams and headed to a building lot the other side of the Potomac.
There, Leonsis and his Monumental Sports & Entertainment team took part in the Alexandria victory lap on Wednesday morning. The Virginians in attendance for the big announcement couldn't contain themselves. The host choked up during her opening remarks and the city's mayor screamed his overly caffeinated “Good morning!” into the microphone. And just as Mayor Justin M. Wilson (D) was explaining how “we want you here” in Alexandria, a protesting community resident could be heard outside the tent shouting his disagreement. Obviously they didn't want everyone there.
“There's something special about this place,” Wilson said later without a trace of irony, considering there were rocks and dirt under the tent.
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If Monumental's non-binding agreement is approved by the Virginia General Assembly and Alexandria City Council, this mound of mud would become a world-class project that includes a new arena, practice facilities, a fan plaza, restaurants, offices and retail. It was the same place where a freight yard once stood. At the end of the 1980s, the site was converted into a multi-screen cinema and a huge car park. An Old Navy store was adjacent to a shopping center across the street. Eventually townhouses started popping up in the neighborhood. So does the population. But the area remains a place without culture or character.
For years, the Capitals and Wizards have been the anchor of a D.C. neighborhood rich in history and identity. At Capital One Arena, the teams reside alongside trombonists and electric guitarists serenading passersby and storefronts with Chinese-inspired facades with roasted ducks hanging in the windows.
In Potomac Yard they play across from a Target.
The loyal hockey fan base will likely follow their team wherever they go – how about the Commonwealth Capitals? But Leonsis suggests taking professional basketball away from a basketball-loving city. But for his team, who claim their #ForTheDistrict on their X-profile, this isn't just a move to another state. By driving the wizards out of DC, Leonsis threatens to take DC – their soul – away from the wizards.
Mayor Muriel E. Bowser (D) should have known that Leonsis wasn't bluffing. Bowser should have remembered exactly who she was dealing with: a man obsessed with wanting more.
What happens to Capital One Arena if the Wizards and Caps leave? Ask the post office.
Around the time Bowser began her first term, Leonsis was leading the effort to move the 2024 Olympics to the District — and one possibility was for a new Olympic stadium at the RFK site to later become an NBA and NHL arena could be converted. Over time, Leonsis escalated his complaints about paying a hefty mortgage on the Chinatown arena – he called it “the worst construction deal in professional sports” – and later demanded $600 million in public funding for renovations. In context, this amount is not dissimilar to requests from other professional teams based in older arenas. And Monumental was able to take advantage of this request as it continued to negotiate with Virginia.
If Bowser thought, “He'll never leave DC,” then that arrogance and gullibility should define her legacy as a mayor who lost two teams at once.
Leonsis' greed to become a sports superpower and abandon all civic responsibility to a district at its most vulnerable time, combined with the District's dilly-dallying, will fatally damage Washington as a major sports center. Just when Leonsis and his company could have been part of the solution to a struggling inner city, he exacerbates the problem by fleeing to the sanitary safety of the suburbs.
None of this mattered to the Virginians in the tent. Because they get the gift of two professional sports teams and all the benefits and bragging rights that come with it. Leonsis said this because he envisioned his Monumental Sports & Entertainment as an engine for Potomac Yard's economic development. However, he still found it in his heart to throw his former love a bone.
“We have a responsibility to do great work and continue to invest in Washington, DC,” Leonsis said. “Hold me accountable. I feel like they’re not just words.”
And then the man walked away with so many words and so little substance without answering any questions. If he were to look at the people of Washington this morning, he would see something other than love in the mirror.