Youngkin: Wizards, Caps would move to Va. in tentative deal
Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin has reached a tentative agreement with the parent company of the NBA’s Washington Wizards and NHL’s Washington Capitals to move those teams from the District of Columbia to what he called a new “visionary sports and entertainment venue” in northern Virginia.
The proposal, which would need the state Legislature’s approval, calls for the creation of a $2 billion development south of Washington in Alexandria, just miles from the existing arena, Youngkin said in an interview with The Associated Press ahead of an announcement Wednesday at the site. It would include an arena for what would be the state’s first major professional sports teams, as well as a new Wizards practice facility, a separate performing arts center, a media studio, new hotels, a convention center, housing and shopping.
“The Commonwealth will now be home to two professional sports teams, a new corporate headquarters, and over 30,000 new jobs,” Youngkin said in a statement.
Monumental Sports & Entertainment CEO Ted Leonsis appeared with Youngkin and city officials at Wednesday’s announcement. He endorsed the proposal, thanked Youngkin and said he had “goosebumps” at the thought of the project coming together “if all goes as planned.”
Monumental also owns the WNBA’s Mystics, and Leonsis said his expectation was that Capital One Arena, where the Wizards and Capitals currently play, could host women’s sports and other events like concerts.
“Our intention is to expand here and keep Capital One Arena in D.C. a great place,” Leonsis, an entrepreneur and former AOL executive, said.
The new development would be located in the Potomac Yard section of Alexandria, along the Potomac River and near Virginia Tech’s ambitious Innovation Campus, an under-construction graduate school.
To help finance the project, Youngkin will ask the Virginia General Assembly in the 2024 session to approve the creation of a Virginia Sports and Entertainment Authority, a public entity with the ability to issue bonds. While no upfront state taxpayer dollars would go toward the project, the terms of the agreement would divert new tax revenues from the project to pay down the bonds.
“We have reached a very clear understanding, really subject to finalizing the General Assembly’s work,” Youngkin said in the interview, noting that a key bipartisan legislative committee endorsed the incentive structure earlier this week.
Still, on Tuesday night ahead of the announcement, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser unveiled a counterproposal she said had unanimous support from the D.C. Council. The legislation would direct a half billion dollars to modernize Capital One Arena.
At a news conference Wednesday, Bowser said she holds out hope the teams will stay in the District, noting that the complex financing arrangement to bring the teams to Virginia needs legislative approval.
Fundamentally, though, she said Leonis must decide if he wants an urban site or a suburban site. Fans, she said, prefer the city.
“National Landing Wizards doesn’t quite have the same ring,” she said, poking fun at the “National Landing” moniker that Virginia economic development officials have used to market Potomac Yard and the surrounding region.
Bowser said the city took the threat of losing the teams seriously. It was only able to put the $500 million incentive package together recently, though, after learning that it could refinance existing debt.
Oklahoma City voters approve sales tax
Oklahoma City voters on Tuesday approved a 1% sales tax for six years to help fund a new downtown arena for the NBA’s Thunder that is expected to cost at least $900 million.
The Oklahoma State Election Board reported that 71% of the city’s voters approved the plan.
The vote is an example of the connection between the team, fans and the community, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said in a statement.