‘It’s disheartening’: Wizards, Capitals fans react to teams possibly relocating to Virginia
WASHINGTON (DC News Now) — Fans of the Washington Wizards and and Capitals expressed concerns about the team moving out of the District and across the river to Virginia.
“It’s disheartening. When you think about the Washington Wizards you think about D.C.,” said long time fan Nickolas Johson. “I’d love to keep that here in D.C. it’s the essence of what D.C. is.”
DC Mayor, Council introduce legislation that would revitalize Capital One Arena, Downtown DC
On Wednesday, Monumental Sports and Entertainment announced a partnership and plan with Virginia lawmakers to relocate the two teams to Potomac Yard. It’s part of a $2 billion proposal to build an entertainment district in the Alexandria neighborhood, which would also include a music venue.
The plan still requires votes at the state and local level.
The teams have played at Capital One Arena in D.C.’s Chinatown neighborhood since 1997.
“We have a lot of energy here, a lot of memories here. To see that go, it’s disheartening,” Johnson said.
Johnson travels in to see the basketball games from Baltimore. He said the move to Virginia would impact how many games he attends per year and how often he come to the city.
DC mayor says Capitals, Wizards deal to Virginia not yet over
“Will that impact how many games we go to? Absolutely,” he said. “We come here to enjoy the games and enjoy the area, so without that our travel time to D.C. will probably be less.”
It’s the same for Dennis Adams.
“I live in the Maryland suburbs, and it’s really not convenient for me to move to Alexandria to go to a game. I don’t want to take 20 stops on a metro,” said Adams. “This is my first year of doing a lot of games. I was really trying to make it a lifestyle change, and I’m not going to be doing that if they go to Alexandria.”
Still, fans like Shereen Awad said the move won’t have a huge impact on her.
“I am fine with it either way,” said Awad who lives in the Tyson area. “I’ll go to games either way.”
Monumental’s move of Wizards, Capitals could have severe economic impact on DC businesses
D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser remains steadfast that it’s still possible the teams will remain at Capital One Arena. She, along with Chairman Phil Mendelson, agreed on and presented a plan to Monumental Sports to transform the current arena.
“We have been responsive to Monumental throughout the process, and we have negotiated in good faith with them over the last several months. We have presented them with a series of offers that range from 25 years and hundreds of millions of dollars to land deals until the one that we shared with you, our last and best final offer, of an all-cash deal of 3 years totaling 500 million dollars,” Bowser said.
For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to DC News Now | Washington, DC.
