Planned Wizards, Capitals Move to Virginia Is Dead

An exterior view of Capital One Arena is seen in Washington on March 16, 2019. (Nick Wass/AP Photo)

The professional basketball and hockey teams in the nation’s capital will not be moving across the Potomac River to northern Virginia after all.

The city of Alexandria, Virginia, announced on March 27 that the Washington Wizards and Washington Capitals will not be moving to the upscale neighborhood.

“The City of Alexandria has ended negotiations related to the Potomac Yard Entertainment District opportunity, and the proposal will not move forward,” said the city in a statement.

This development is a win for D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser and a loss for Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin.

“We negotiated a framework for this opportunity in good faith and participated in the process in Richmond in a way that preserved our integrity. We trusted this process and are disappointed in what occurred between the governor and General Assembly,” said the city.

Alexandria “was adamant that any favorable consideration of the proposal included substantial and thoughtful improvements to the existing transportation system; included affordable housing; protect our stellar AAA bond rating; protect existing and future residents from financial risk; provided substantial future revenue for city and school services; protected existing neighborhoods; and provided quality jobs for our community,” the city said.

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At the end of the day, said the city, the “negotiations did not result in a proposal that protected our financial interests and respected these community values.”

In a statement, Mr. Youngkin did not hide his disappointment.

“Virginians deserve better. A one-of-a-kind project bringing world-class athletes and entertainment, creating 30,000 jobs and $12 billion in economic activity just went up in smoke,” he said.

“This transformational project would have driven investment to every corner of the Commonwealth.”

At a Dec. 13 event, Mr. Youngkin announced the $2 billion complex, which he said would be “monumental”—a pun on the organization, Monumental Sports & Entertainment, which owns the Wizards and Capitals.

But L. Louise Lucas, chair of the powerful state Senate Finance and Appropriations Committee, won the battle to deny the requested $1.5 billion in public bonds to fund the project. She even celebrated by posting a meme showing a gravestone to illustrate that the project was dead.

The Wizards and Capitals will continue to play at Capital One Arena. The teams’ lease there expires in 2047.

A deal between Ms. Bowser and Ted Leonsis, the owner of Monumental Sports & Entertainment, would keep the team in the nation’s capital for an additional three years. D.C. would allocate $515 million over a few years to upgrade the arena. The two announced this deal in a March 27 interview with The Washington Post.

The Democrats in the state legislature made multiple demands that Mr. Youngkin might have been able to give in exchange for public funding for the complex.

In his reaction to the planned move being dead, Mr. Youngkin blamed “personal and political agendas” for causing the possible move of the teams across the Potomac River to halt. The deal, he noted, would have had “no upfront general fund money and no tax increases, that created tens of thousands of new jobs and billions in revenue for Virginia.”

The arena is located in Washington’s Chinatown, where violent crime has increased by 36 percent compared with last year, according to Washington’s Metropolitan Police Department, though that is 10 percentage points less than the violent crime within a half-mile radius of the arena. Robberies spiked 84 percent.

Mr. Youngkin sidestepped the Chinatown crime issue after the December event.

The possible move “ is affirmation of what’s happening in Virginia” in that the Commonwealth is “one of the leading if not best place to relocate businesses to build future to raise a family,” he told The Epoch Times.

The governor touted Virginia as having one of Amazon’s headquarters and Boeing and other innovation opportunities.

But Virginia Lt. Gov. Winsome Sears and Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares have said the likely move is reflective of the crime in Chinatown.

“You have to consider there must be something there that’s something that they see in Virginia. And when other businesses see other businesses moving to Virginia, that’s a win,” Ms. Sears told Fox News on Dec. 14, citing Boeing and Lego among numerous firms to move to Virginia under Mr. Youngkin’s tenure.

Ms. Sears went on to say that businesses trust that Virginia “will be a place that they can live and work and raise a family. You want your employees to be safe.”

“It’s not just about money, but you got to talk about the environment. ... What is the surrounding area of the venue?” she told WMAL.

“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,” Ms. Sears said.

“As DC politicians pretend they don’t have a public safety issue… and carjackings, violent crime, and robberies worsen, Virginia residents are less likely to spend their time (and their money) in the District,” Mr. Miyares posted on X, formerly Twitter.

“We welcome the @Capitals, @WashWizards, Monumental Sports & Entertainment, and this tremendous development to a safer Virginia,” he said.

Focus Turns to the NFL Team

With the Wizards and Capitals set to remain in Washington, the focus turns to what will happen to the Washington Commanders, the NFL team that currently plays in Landover, Maryland.

Signs indicate that the Commanders will likely move to a new location as their lease at FedEx Field expires in 2027. FedEx has opted out of its $205 million naming rights agreement—two years early.

While options include staying in Maryland, where FedEx Field is located, it is highly possible that the team could move back to the nation’s capital by building a stadium at the site of the defunct RFK Stadium, which has yet to be demolished.

The House of Representatives passed a bill on Feb. 28 that would allow the federal government to lease the property that includes RFK Stadium.

The bill, whose fate is uncertain in the Senate, would require the Interior secretary to transfer the federal government’s control of the Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium Campus to the District of Columbia within 180 days. The District of Columbia would be responsible for any costs associated with the transfer.

The lease would be for 99 years, with the option to extend.

The measure would permit the local government in the nation’s capital to develop the 174 acres of land that includes the deteriorating 62-year-old stadium, which has been demolished incrementally.

The functions for which the District of Columbia can use the land include but are not limited to “stadium purposes, including training facilities, offices, and other structures necessary to support a stadium; commercial and residential development; facilities, open space, and public outdoor opportunities, which may include supporting cultural activities, educational activities, and recreational activities,” according to the legislation.

The bill requires the District of Columbia to have at least 30 percent of the property consist of parks and open spaces, to improve public access to the Anacostia River and not obstruct the Anacostia River Trail, to provide parking facilities, to have sufficient public safety, and to reduce traffic and noise for the nearby residential areas.

The District of Columbia would, according to the bill, have to do a survey of the land and submit the survey to Congress.

No federal funding will be allowed for the development of the stadium property.

In 2022, pictures of a possible Commanders stadium and village in Woodbridge, Virginia, were released. The Commanders paid $100 million for the land for what could be a stadium complex. But it is far from guaranteed that the Commonwealth can get a trifecta being the home of the Wizards, Capitals, and Commanders.

The nation’s capital seems to have an advantage as the Metro station by RFK Stadium is only a 9-minute walk to the venue whereas the walk from the Metro stop on Morgan Boulevard is a 22-minute walk to FedEx Field with no other Metro station that is closer to the stadium. Woodbridge has no Metro station.