If you read Rick Snider's column on Audacy DC Wednesday, you'd know he considers Ted Leonsis as Public Enemy No. 1 in DC sports, and the Caps and Wizards are, right now, the teams without future homes.
BMitch & Finlay's resident economy expert, Ben White, understands both sides of the deal…but as a Washington guy, he's not a fan of the move personally.
"I kind of hate it because I'm such a fan of the city of Washington and doing anything to keep those areas where they play now thriving economically," White said. "I know it's not perfect and the building needs restructuring, but I was really hopeful that they could make a deal with the city to keep them. I know the complex they're talking about in Alexandria looks really nice, and I understand it makes sense with all ancillary things they can do, but I personally wish they would find a way to stay in the city."
And yeah, as the resident economist, he understands what two major Capital One Arena tenants leaving could do to Chinatown.
"People go to the games downtown and be downtown and go to the restaurants, stores, bars – I still never forget being outside the building when the Caps were going to the Stanley Cup Finals and just the throngs of people that were there from different parts of the city," White said. "That, to me, is the ideal for civic sports and economic development, so it'd be a shame for me to see them go. I don't love it when teams leave, obviously didn't love it when the Redskins moved out to the monstrosity of FedEx – and it would make up a lot for it if we could get them back – but if the Caps and Wizards leave, it's absolutely essential that they speed up that process of getting the stadium into the city and a good spot for it, RFK or elsewhere, where you can have some benefit to the city of Washington."
It is Washington that is on the names of the teams, as White pointed out, so you'd like as many of those teams as possible (ideally all) inside District, and White understands the "NIMBY" backlash to the Alexandria move, which is of course not a done deal at all.
"It sounded like when they did that press conference and announcement that this is happening, but it's not a good deal or a done deal," White said. "They still have hoops to jump through in terms of approval from Virginia, and then it's not like the city of Washington couldn't conceivably come through with another offer. If there's a way to save it in Washington, I would get hard behind that."
That said, White knows something JP has beat the drum on: all cities are dealing with post-COVID business effects, which leads to a lot of the issues surrounding Cap One as it is, so if the teams are going to stay, something more than just an arena facelift has to happen.
"All that leads to higher crime rates and lower quality of life, and this would just be adding to that to take out two major draws to the area," White said. "But it's chicken and egg, you know, because there was a period where Chinatown and the area around Cap One was thriving with new bars and restaurants, but that's been a long time since then, and I don't think it's quite as nice an experience now, which may be part of the problem that people don't necessarily feel that comfortable going there."
