On Washington Sports Teams Moving to Virginia: Alexandrians, and Locals, Have Their Say.

Not more than two years ago Ted Leonsis, owner of Monumental Sports, shared in a December, 2022 post on his then-popular Ted’s Take blog that DC fans where deserving of Abe Pollin’s $200M sports arena named the Verizon Center (now Capital One Arena).

Leonsis wrote how his team planned to make improvements, focus on technology and make investments in the Big Three: signs, suites, and sound, along with “major redevelopments soon that will change much of the external part of the building.”

Juxtapose that, fast forward even, to the present.

Almost a year to the day, fans were ‘treated’ to another December statement by Leonsis where he  announced that he’d be taking his team’s talents to a proposed 70-acre site in Alexandria’s Potomac Yard area that, when complete, will boast the headquarters for Monumental Sports, an industry-leading arena, shops, jobs and more.

Opinions have been mixed with some in favor of the proposal, and some not.  Today we focus on the ‘some nots’.

                                          

Alexandria City High School/ Photo CD Brown

And so it would be that on a cold and blustery Sunday afternoon in January, that stakeholders of Alexandria came out to Alexandria City High School (formerly T.C. Willams, and still Home of the Titans) in an open forum to voice concerns over the proposed move of Monumental Sports’ professional sports teams making their way across the Potomac into their back yard.

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The Coalition.

One such stakeholder, The Coalition to Stop The Arena at Potomac Yard (a 504 (c)(4) organization) made up of area concerned citizens, claims the new Potomac Yard arena is a “monumental mistake” that would promise little, cause divide, and is a slick sales job, per the organization’s website.

 “We think it’s a boondoggle project”, said Eric Weiner, a spokesperson for the organization and self-professed decades-long Washingtonian.

“As you’ve heard today, unfortunately, our lawmakers are lacking information; they’ve admitted as much. This announcement was made in Virginia after closed-door session; our governor and mayor came out the next day and made a splashy announcement that nobody knew about. They’re fast-tracking this project, and the question we have is, why the rush?’, he asked.

                                                             

Members of StopTheArena.org/ Photo CD Brown

 Show me the money (and the data).

“They’re asking us to backstop over a $1B in taxes, but they don’t want our input? That just doesn’t sound right, said Weiner.

The arena is slated to be built in 2028 with the Virginia governor calling it a “one-of-a-kind sports and entertainment district that will generate $12B  and 30,000 new jobs."

But it’s the data, not the perception, that matters to some.

“I think the decision should be made strictly upon data”, said another attendee of the open forum.

“That’s the problem. They’re saying they can generate this much revenue and here’s a brochure that shows the findings that's going to promise you this, he said.

“Emotions taken out of it, stadiums, arenas, sports centers [sic] really don’t ever deliver the economic boom that people think are gonna come. Maybe you’ll get some, maybe you won’t, but what you’re most assuredly are gonna get, are the problems."

An attendee, “known for asking for data all the time”, Abdel Elnoubi, Alexandria PTA president, school board member and City Council candidate was making rounds, speaking with attendees. While he says he hasn’t made up his mind either way on the arena he says he wants to get perspectives from residents and those in the area before he’s able to make an educated decision. 

Elnooubi says that there is a 50-50 mixed opinion on the proposal based on those he's spoken to.

                                                                 

Abdel Elnoubi: Alexandria school board member, PTA president and City Council candidate, talks to a constituent. Photo CD Brown

“I want to also look at data”, he said.  “I want to look at hidden costs, if there are any. Like how are we gonna deal with issues like traffic and everything else and what that’s gonna cost, and any solvable problems before we make that decision. It’s good if it’s gonna bring money, but what’s the cost of that", Elnoubi asked, citing that the school's budget is already in a pinch.

Getting There.

Ricki Deena, another supporter of The Coalition to Stop The Arena at Potomac Yard and Potomac Yard resident, said she is against the arena for the speculative problems and concerns expressed on the day such as more traffic being added to the existing gridlock along Alexandria’s Route 1 corridor; the probability of crime; the issue of the arena being subsidized by taxpayers, and metro accessibility to games.

“I don’t know. Are we going to have hover crafts?”, Deena asked. “A water taxi is not realistic. I know that idea’s been thrown around”, she said.

“The whole process of it, there’s been no transparency and our elected officials need to remember they work for us, not the other way around”, she said.

Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin, has given his support for additional funding for Potomac Yard metro improvements after Metro's general manager, Randy Clarke, noted that the Potomac Yard metro couldn't handle the additional Wizards, Capitals traffic.

“I don’t think we would have carried the bill without the governor’s commitment to solve the Metro funding problem,” said Senate Majority Leader Scott A. Surovell (D-Fairfax).

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Accessibility, affordability (and salaries).

Funding the metro problem aside, some don’t see the arena in Alexandria as a plus for the city.

“Having the stadium down the road will not make me go the game”, another attendee said. “I think these sports people are overpaid. I think they spend too much money on salaries”, she said.

”Ted Leonsis is a billionaire. He should be able to fund this without the impact to the state and the residents. Having it down the street is not gonna make me go anymore than it would to D.C.”, she added. “I might go to one maybe a year, might go to none…. I’m not buying season tickets.”

She also hinted on the issue of the cost to families to attend games.

“It’s too much for families”, she said. “People can’t afford it. All the rents that they have to pay are gonna be so exorbitant that the food they’re gonna charge for it is gonna be exorbitant.  It’s not some place that I’m gonna be going to a restaurant.  I’m gonna be going out of town, into Falls Church or little bit further out where they’re not paying these rents and I can get a better deal.

What do you think? Should the teams stay, or go? Inquiring minds want to know.

See also:  Potomac Yard Metro Shutdown? | StopTheArena.org | What About The Washington Mystics?

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