https://twitter.com/wojespn/status/1734737037326983423
Adrian Wojnarowski
@wojespn
ESPN story on Washington owner Ted Leonsis preparing to move Wizards,
Capitals to Northern Virginia
Sources: Ted Leonsis plans to move Wizards, Capitals to Virginia
Washington Wizards and Washington Capitals owner Ted Leonsis, the CEO of
Monumental Sports and Entertainment, is preparing to move his NBA and NHL
franchises to a proposed new arena complex and entertainment district in
Northern Virginia, sources told ESPN on Tuesday.
The plan, expected to be unveiled at a news conference with Virginia Gov.
Glenn Youngkin on Wednesday morning in Alexandria, would be for the two teams
to move to a massive new development in Alexandria's Potomac Yard
neighborhood, sources said.
Virginia State lawmakers voted on Monday to approve the arena project in
Northern Virginia, the Washington Post reported. A final vote of the state's
full general assembly is needed to pass the project that would create an
8,000-square foot campus site in Alexandria.
ABC7 in Virginia reported that the teams could break ground by 2025 and begin
playing by 2028.
The Wizards and Capital have been playing in Capital One Arena in downtown
Washington, D.C., since 1997 and will continue to do so until a proposed new
arena complex could be constructed sometime in the coming years. Leonsis and
D.C. officials had been discussing the city's possible contributions to arena
renovations