Calgarypuck Forums - The Unofficial Calgary Flames Fan Community - View Single Post - [Rumour] Capitals moving to North Virginia

tripin_billie · 12-14-2023, 01:57 PM

As a DC resident, I've been following this for the last few months. Some general thoughts I have on it:

- Gallery Place has gone downhill a lot since the beginning of the pandemic. I worked near there and would always go up to 7th St for lunch. That all changed with remote work and it hasn't rebounded. What has now happened is the area has been overtaken by some open air drug markets and many of the restaurants have not returned since the pandemic. Adding to that, the AMC theatre and the bowling alley both closed too. Now, when you get out of the metro, there is an overabundant stench of weed plus lots of people just loitering around. It does not leave you with an overly safe feeling. There have been shootings outside right after puck drop. Bowser and the Council are responsible for not seeing that this area needs specific policing. DC does not have loitering laws - I think it needs some neighborhood specific ones for places like Gallery Place.

- Notwithstanding all of this, Gallery Place is an inherently excellent location for an arena. It sits above 3 metro lines and has the other 2 only 3 blocks away at Metro Center. This is by far one of the best entertainment locations in the region.

- Capital One Center isn't as fancy as the new arenas, but it in no way is anything like something like the Saddledome. Concourses are wide and have good food and drink options. Site lines from seats are all really good as well and the facilities still feel modern. Sure, it's not as nice as a place like T-Mobile or even older-newer arenas like Nationwide, but it is not really lacking. What it doesn't have is an on-site training rink/ gym and more importantly, a bunch of retail that is owned by Monumental. Leonsis and JBG are eyeing the opportunity to be the landlords to all of the surrounding retail so they get a taste of all of the pre and post game revenue.

- Attendance is down. The Wizards suck and have low attendance to the point where you can easily get $10 tickets. The Caps have been hurting on weekday games. I went to the Flames game in relatively good seats that I grabbed on StubHub for $32 including fees. That was significantly below face. Subsequent games I've gone to this year felt much the same. With Ovechkin finally being caught by father time, and the probability of the record getting slimmer, I feel like the Caps are going to have a marketing crisis on their hands. Maybe they think a new arena and the rental revenue makes up for the lack of ticket sales?

- Bowser and the Council have been overly focused on getting the Commanders to return to the district in the old RFK Stadium location. That would be awesome, but they didn't pay enough attention to Leonsis and his baby-man feelings got hurt.

- DC doesn't have the revenue it had before the pandemic, so handouts from the Council are going to be harder to get. The pandemic really did a number on this city.

- General crime is up in DC while it is falling in other big US cities. There is a lot of debate as to why, but the net effect is that people seem more reluctant to come into the city for events.

- The proposed Potomac Yards location sucks. It's a freaking Target and strip mall right now. If they move the team there, it is going to feel like the most artificial suburban towncenter ever. Yuck! Also, it's a terrible metro location as it is only served by the Blue Line and the exiting the station you have to cross rail tracks to get anywhere.

- Leonsis is making weird business moves that have upset folks in DC. In particular, he sold a small percentage of Monumental Sports to the Saudi sovereign fund. In a city where we renamed the street in front of the Saudi embassy Jamal Khashoggi Way, you can imagine this business move has been looked on with less than favorable eyes.

- I still think this is all a ploy to extract more concessions out of DC and that the Caps and Wizards end up in a renovated Capital One.

Happy to answer any questions anyone has from a local perspective.

Overall, all my Caps-fan friends hate this move and are swearing off going to regular season games in the future.

12-14-2023, 01:57 PM	#59
tripin_billie #1 Goaltender Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: DC Exp:	As a DC resident, I've been following this for the last few months. Some general thoughts I have on it: - Gallery Place has gone downhill a lot since the beginning of the pandemic. I worked near there and would always go up to 7th St for lunch. That all changed with remote work and it hasn't rebounded. What has now happened is the area has been overtaken by some open air drug markets and many of the restaurants have not returned since the pandemic. Adding to that, the AMC theatre and the bowling alley both closed too. Now, when you get out of the metro, there is an overabundant stench of weed plus lots of people just loitering around. It does not leave you with an overly safe feeling. There have been shootings outside right after puck drop. Bowser and the Council are responsible for not seeing that this area needs specific policing. DC does not have loitering laws - I think it needs some neighborhood specific ones for places like Gallery Place. - Notwithstanding all of this, Gallery Place is an inherently excellent location for an arena. It sits above 3 metro lines and has the other 2 only 3 blocks away at Metro Center. This is by far one of the best entertainment locations in the region. - Capital One Center isn't as fancy as the new arenas, but it in no way is anything like something like the Saddledome. Concourses are wide and have good food and drink options. Site lines from seats are all really good as well and the facilities still feel modern. Sure, it's not as nice as a place like T-Mobile or even older-newer arenas like Nationwide, but it is not really lacking. What it doesn't have is an on-site training rink/ gym and more importantly, a bunch of retail that is owned by Monumental. Leonsis and JBG are eyeing the opportunity to be the landlords to all of the surrounding retail so they get a taste of all of the pre and post game revenue. - Attendance is down. The Wizards suck and have low attendance to the point where you can easily get $10 tickets. The Caps have been hurting on weekday games. I went to the Flames game in relatively good seats that I grabbed on StubHub for $32 including fees. That was significantly below face. Subsequent games I've gone to this year felt much the same. With Ovechkin finally being caught by father time, and the probability of the record getting slimmer, I feel like the Caps are going to have a marketing crisis on their hands. Maybe they think a new arena and the rental revenue makes up for the lack of ticket sales? - Bowser and the Council have been overly focused on getting the Commanders to return to the district in the old RFK Stadium location. That would be awesome, but they didn't pay enough attention to Leonsis and his baby-man feelings got hurt. - DC doesn't have the revenue it had before the pandemic, so handouts from the Council are going to be harder to get. The pandemic really did a number on this city. - General crime is up in DC while it is falling in other big US cities. There is a lot of debate as to why, but the net effect is that people seem more reluctant to come into the city for events. - The proposed Potomac Yards location sucks. It's a freaking Target and strip mall right now. If they move the team there, it is going to feel like the most artificial suburban towncenter ever. Yuck! Also, it's a terrible metro location as it is only served by the Blue Line and the exiting the station you have to cross rail tracks to get anywhere. - Leonsis is making weird business moves that have upset folks in DC. In particular, he sold a small percentage of Monumental Sports to the Saudi sovereign fund. In a city where we renamed the street in front of the Saudi embassy Jamal Khashoggi Way, you can imagine this business move has been looked on with less than favorable eyes. - I still think this is all a ploy to extract more concessions out of DC and that the Caps and Wizards end up in a renovated Capital One. Happy to answer any questions anyone has from a local perspective. Overall, all my Caps-fan friends hate this move and are swearing off going to regular season games in the future. Last edited by tripin_billie; 12-14-2023 at 01:59 PM.