Leonsis looking to move Capitals and Wizard to Virginia (upd: VA deal seemingly dead, new DC deal in the works)

[ponder719]

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you are acting like its so far away from dc, its just across the river (blue drawn line is dc)

also lol at feeling for the dc fans that have to come to va, but im sure you werent all upset for the va people who had to go into dc

Accessibility of Gallery Place, being on the Red/Yellow/Green line, was far better than Potomac Yard, on the Blue/Yellow line. Blue and Yellow basically serve Arlington/Alexandria and the less populated portions of MD east of the city, whereas Red serves two major chunks of Montgomery County, Yellow doesn't matter in this analysis, since it's the one line that serves both locations directly, and Green picks up portions of Anacostia as well as doubling up the northern part of the Yellow Line service all the way up to Greenbelt. The Red Line transfer is going to be somewhat of a problem, because as I recall a more significant component of Caps fandom is in Maryland than you'd think. (I also have a recollection that the Red line was the most heavily traveled, but I have no stats here, just CW from back when I was in DC for grad school, which was a while ago.) The Wizards fan base is a bit more spread out, it might not be as bad from their perspective.

This could end up not being a disaster like I think, but Metro's going to have to prepare for a LOT more ridership on the Yellow line on game nights. Hopefully for Caps and Wizards fans' sakes, WMATA's prepared to adjust to that reality and invest heavily in the Yellow line, because it's going to suddenly be a lot more important than it had been.

 

[hockeykicker]

Accessibility of Gallery Place, being on the Red/Yellow/Green line, was far better than Potomac Yard, on the Blue/Yellow line. Blue and Yellow basically serve Arlington/Alexandria and the less populated portions of MD east of the city, whereas Red serves two major chunks of Montgomery County, Yellow doesn't matter in this analysis, since it's the one line that serves both locations directly, and Green picks up portions of Anacostia as well as doubling up the northern part of the Yellow Line service all the way up to Greenbelt. The Red Line transfer is going to be somewhat of a problem, because as I recall a more significant component of Caps fandom is in Maryland than you'd think. (I also have a recollection that the Red line was the most heavily traveled, but I have no stats here, just CW from back when I was in DC for grad school, which was a while ago.) The Wizards fan base is a bit more spread out, it might not be as bad from their perspective.

This could end up not being a disaster like I think, but Metro's going to have to prepare for a LOT more ridership on the Yellow line on game nights. Hopefully for Caps and Wizards fans' sakes, WMATA's prepared to adjust to that reality and invest heavily in the Yellow line, because it's going to suddenly be a lot more important than it had been.

But it's not really that much more of a pain, it's literally just go to gallery place metro station like always and then take the yellow line 5-10 mins extra. That's it

 

[viper0220]

I am very sad and angry. I grew up in the MD suburbs of DC. Leonsis is making a huge mistake-the ability of people to get to events will be significantly impacted as people will not be able to take transit. VA may be offering more money , but a renovation of capital one arena in DC would i believe be a lot more profitable in the long run.

If Leonsis was going to do this, he should of at least given DC one more chance publicly to match the VA offer. He should also of had enough respect for fans to give them a heads up in advance. Say to the public and DC that you will for example sign an agreement with VA in say 2 months but give DC a chance to pass its own legislation.

I would also think that music acts and the like would much rather play in DC, as they could likely charge higher ticket prices. I want to remain a caps fan, but this among other things is making it really hard for me.

In 2018 I went to DC because my sister and her husband lived there(they moved to Vancouver in 2020, just before all the madness).

I went to a Capitals game and the arena was rockin, it had a very nice vibe.

I had not felt that kind of vibe, until I went to Vegas for their playoff run. I did not go to a Knights game, just hanging around the arena was great.

Hopefully the Caps get all this figured out.

 

[Tawnos]

I feel for DC and MD fans who have to go there.
Only one Metro line that isn't a loop? Well fck.

ALso are they changing their name? Viriginia something, something?

They aren't relocating. I've seen articles saying "relocating to Virginia" which implies much more than what's happening. A relocation means changing markets. Even the title of this thread is going to be somewhat misleading to some people.

 

[Sparty]

Not looking good for this...

 

[KevFu]

This topic is like the #1 place for misleading headlines.

The Senate bill is dead. The deal isn't. It's a bicameral legislature: There's a house bill, and if it passes it goes to the senate.

 

[Ernie]

This topic is like the #1 place for misleading headlines.

The Senate bill is dead. The deal isn't. It's a bicameral legislature: There's a house bill, and if it passes it goes to the senate.

The tweet says that the Senate Dems will vote the House bill down if it reaches there so it's dead.

 

[KevFu]

The tweet says that the Senate Dems will vote the House bill down if it reaches there so it's dead.

It's (American) politics. The article I read on the subject, at ESPN, also quotes the governor as saying their political opposition do "not believe in -- nor do they want -- a strong America."

It's rhetoric. Like when WWE guys walk out with a microphone and tell their opponents they won't ever win.

 

[Ernie]

It's (American) politics. The article I read on the subject, at ESPN, also quotes the governor as saying their political opposition do "not believe in -- nor do they want -- a strong America."

It's rhetoric. Like when WWE guys walk out with a microphone and tell their opponents they won't ever win.

um ok. I guess you're right and the Dems will just pass it even though they say they won't.

 

[Sparty]

It's (American) politics. The article I read on the subject, at ESPN, also quotes the governor as saying their political opposition do "not believe in -- nor do they want -- a strong America."

It's rhetoric. Like when WWE guys walk out with a microphone and tell their opponents they won't ever win.

You're not wrong, to me that's why it feels like it was never going to happen.

Maybe he can get folks on board, or maybe he doesn't really want to because it felt like he already took his victory lap, we'll find out soon enough I guess.

In politics these days there's a lot of "we're gonna do X" but then when the time comes to make that happen, they just blame the other guys and say we tried our best. Who even knows what they really want, they just want to act like they want it.

 

[No Fun Shogun]

I mean... basically hours after the deal was announced, legislative leaders expressed surprise as they were not included in any of the negotiations. It's not really surprising if an executive-initiated arena deal dies in front of legislative overview. Way more important things have died over less than this.

 

[KevFu]

um ok. I guess you're right and the Dems will just pass it even though they say they won't.

It has nothing to do with right or wrong, it's how big a grain of salt you have to take everything when it comes to political reporting.

Propaganda is legal in the United States. The internet destroyed journalistic integrity. And it's a Presidential election year. Things real bad here.

 

[Sparty]

It has nothing to do with right or wrong, it's how big a grain of salt you have to take everything when it comes to political reporting.

Propaganda is legal in the United States. The internet destroyed journalistic integrity. And it's a Presidential election year. Things real bad here.

I mean the propaganda was coming from the governor, he got out there and said there was gonna be a new arena, he was going to make it happen before even letting anyone else know about it. The media is just reporting what they're being told.

 

[Ernie]

It has nothing to do with right or wrong, it's how big a grain of salt you have to take everything when it comes to political reporting.

Propaganda is legal in the United States. The internet destroyed journalistic integrity. And it's a Presidential election year. Things real bad here.

But do you have anything specific that suggests the Democrats will change their minds?

 

[KevFu]

I mean the propaganda was coming from the governor, he got out there and said there was gonna be a new arena, he was going to make it happen before even letting anyone else know about it. The media is just reporting what they're being told.

Yeah, the media is reporting, the politicians are politicking.

In an election year, even if Ds and Rs WANT to work together on something, they really keep that hush-hush because everyone/thing is partisan. They face opposition from WITHIN when they work with the other side.

Does Leonsis say it's dead?

 

[sh724]

But do you have anything specific that suggests the Democrats will change their minds?

Its not really about changing their minds its more about hey we are going to say we are against this because we want something in return so unless you give us what we want we wont let you have what you want. Regardless of what is said publicly this is what everything boils down to anymore.

 

[JianYang]

There actually is a growing trend of people fighting back against replacing stadiums for the sake of replacing them, especially because most of the time, stadiums are paid primarily with taxpayer dollars while they ultimately benefit owners of sports franchises instead (as in, the city and state are responsible for the lame parts of arena ownership while billionaires get all the fun parts). There's a difference between building an arena in a place like Richmond, Virginia or San Diego, where the venue literally can qualify for Social Security, versus an arena that's only 25 years old and can just do with some renovation work.

It would be interesting to go down the list and test the theory of whether publicly funded stadiums generally have a shorter shelf like than the buildings which are funded 100% privately.

For example, I'm pretty sure montreal and vancouver were 100% privately funded when their buildings opened in the mid 90s. I have not heard even a peep in either instance that they plan on building a new rink.

 

[Ciao]

Its not really about changing their minds its more about hey we are going to say we are against this because we want something in return so unless you give us what we want we wont let you have what you want. Regardless of what is said publicly this is what everything boils down to anymore.

Yeah, I'm guessing the Bill fell apart in the Virginia Senate over border security. Building a sanctuary for Russians and Canadians and all kinds of Euros that don't pay their defense bills etc. Tighten that up and it might get thru?

 

[Random schmoe]

It's just politics. They'll approve the arena deal if the Governor caves on other things they want. They've even made their list public if you've read much. They want some combination of:
-legalization of weed in Virginia
-lowering of tolls in the Hampton Roads area. This is a personal want from the President Pro Tempore of the Senate who represents that area and she controls what bills make it to a vote.
-raising the minimum wage in the state to $15/hr.

 

[Mightygoose]

Arena not in the current budget with a vote expected Saturday.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2024/03/06/virginia-arena-budget-removed-youngkin/

Almost time for plan B whatever that is.

 

[No Fun Shogun]

It's almost like a governor secretely negotiating a massive arena deal with a private entity without working with legislative leadership involvement when the legislature is very divided was a bad idea.

 

[Headshot77]

The caps and wizards should stay in downtown DC. Their location is great. But if you weren't paying attention you could walk right past the arena and not even notice it. They need something a bit more eye-catching

 

[BKIslandersFan]

The caps and wizards should stay in downtown DC. Their location is great. But if you weren't paying attention you could walk right past the arena and not even notice it. They need something a bit more eye-catching

Maybe they can revelop RFK site if Commanders aren't gonna come back.

 

[usiel]

It's almost like a governor secretely negotiating a massive arena deal with a private entity without working with legislative leadership involvement when the legislature is very divided was a bad idea.

Being a VA resident this is basically it. Youngkin is not really a real politician meaning he doesn't really have much skills there.

Not a huge fan of McAuliffe but if he had won in 2021 and with the Dems winning both the VA Senate/House last year this could of been a done deal at least legislatively (or the despised Del Ray NIMBYs could of blocked it themselves).

Leonsis deserves the blame of lack of common sense. Secret negotiations with a powerless governor (other than a veto) who will never do any normal bi-partisan compromise deals of give and take with the opposing party cause he wants to be president some day.

Traffic 'reasons' for are a strawman arguement being a resident of VA since '81. Traffic is bad always and everywhere 20 years ago and current today. No office buildings should be built in NoVa ever.

My is the only real spot that makes in Tysons Corner around roughly where the Toyota dealership area. Most of Rt. 7 was widened to eight lanes when the Silver Line was built (which goes all the way to Dulles Airport even). Right next to the nexus of 270, 495 beltway has twelve lanes (four hot toll lanes), and 66.
The previoiusly mentioned Silver line there would be two metro stops within a couple of blocks. Two mega malls in walking distance in Tysons Corner One and the Galleria. Also the new Boro area that has restaurants and a showplace ICON theater two longish blocks away. All those entertainment options could soften the traffic impact bringing those early to the area or doing stuff after potentially.

Also of note this is part of the same area that JKC attempted to build a stadium for the then Redskins that got tanked as well.... Bad juju.

 

[BKIslandersFan]

It looks like it’s officially as dead as disco.