Monumental and DC Struck a $515 million deal that will see Wizards out of Capital One Arena until…

DC An agreement has been reached by Mayor Muriel E. Bowser and Ted Leonsis, the founder, chairman, and CEO of Monumental Sports & Entertainment, to keep the teams in Washington, DC, until 2050. The announcement follows MSE’s earlier Wednesday abandonment of their original plan to relocate the two teams to Northern Virginia.

The centrepiece of the new deal will be the allocation of $515 million in public monies by DC over a three-year period to assist with modernising the relatively new Capital One Arena and its surroundings. In exchange, Leonsis will sign a new contract that extends the current lease by three years and maintains his teams at the arena for the next 25 years.

Leonsis stated in a statement, “I look at outcomes, not process, and we got to the right outcome.” “I want everyone to know how much I love Washington, D.C. and how much I’ve always loved Washington, D.C. I realise this was a difficult process. We felt that Mayor Bowser and her staff listened to us, collaborated with us, and provided the resources we needed to grow our company in this very downtown.

“I look at outcomes, not process,” Leonsis said in a statement. “And we got to the right outcome.” “I want everyone to know how much I have always loved Washington, D.C. and how much I love it even more. I understand that this was not an easy process. We believed that Mayor Bowser and her team were attentive to our concerns, worked in tandem with us, and gave us the tools we required to expand our business in this very area.

Suddenly, I had a strong sense that we were all in this together and that D.C. was the place I wanted to be,” Leonsis said to Jonathan O’Connell of The Washington Post.”Nearly 200,000 square feet of newly programmed space throughout Capital One Arena and Gallery Place” is another goal of the arrangement. Enhancements to the venue’s safety have also been given top priority; the city is stationing 17 specialised police officers there from two hours previous to each game till two hours following.