What an absolute disaster for Washington. I don't know what will happen with the Capital One Arena when the Capitals and Wizards depart for Potomac Yard. The WNBA's Mystics and Georgetown's men's and women's basketball teams will presumably continue to play there but that is about 15 games per year for each Georgetown team and aside from the games with Syracuse and Villanova, the crowds Georgetown attracts these days is nowhere near as large as either the Capitals or Wizards.
This is what happens when city officials (I don't want to use the term leaders) allow open-air drug use and drug dealing to continue to persist. The area around the Capital One Arena and Chinatown has really become sad and I can't blame visitors to be worried about their personal safety when they visit.
Personally, as noted above, I own stock in JBG Smith, which owns a lot of real estate in Crystal City and would build the new arena, so I would benefit but this is a complete disaster for DC.
Monumental, Youngkin announce deal to move Caps, Wizards to Virginia
By Michael Brice-Saddler, Jonathan O'Connell, Laura Vozzella, Laris Karklis, Meagan Flynn
13 December 2023
Washington Post
Rendering courtesy of the Washington Post.
"The owner of the Wizards and Capitals has reached a nonbinding arrangement that would move the teams from downtown D.C. to a new arena in Northern Virginia as soon as 2028, potentially upending the regional sports landscape.
Ted Leonsis, owner of Monumental Sports & Entertainment, and Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R) appeared together Wednesday at an event in Alexandria's Potomac Yard neighborhood where the terms of the framework were detailed.
"Virginia will not only be the best place to watch hockey — to watch basketball, but it will be the best place to innovate and press the envelope in what we can do together," Youngkin said..."
https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md...-potomac-yard/