DC Councilman Charles Allen, who represents Ward 6 (aka the area where RFK Stadium is) wrote an op-ed in the Washington Post Tuesday that basically argued the city should prioritize investments in Capital One Arena over a new Commanders stadium at RFK, with his quote being that "D.C. needs to invest in the existing and proven product, not be distracted by the latest shiny toy."
JP Finlay read the op-ed on the air late Tuesday morning…and Brian Mitchell basically debunked it right away.
"Let me just say this: it sounds like somebody from the Cap had him say this, and he may be their mouthpiece," Brian Mitchell said. "Let's be real: I was told by someone they'd love to take a new arena and put it right next to a new stadium. And then there's this – what if the Harris group rolls in and says we'll build our own stadium and everything around it? Then we don't need public subsidy."
Josh Harris and company are trying to do just that for the Sixers in Center City Philadelphia, as Anthony Gargano told BMitch & Finlay on Monday, but that's still one arena out of what would be four…as opposed to three in DC, which is still two too many for the idea to be plausible?
"If that happens, do you think that Cap money is going to push more than the football franchise would? No, "It's proven over and over again that football will push more, but I don't think the public wants to build anyone's damn stadium. You don't need to tear down Cap One, all you need to do is some repairs on it."
Oh, and speaking of repairs…MITCHELL RANT ALERT!
"As a matter of fact, since you want to promote so much, how about you work on the crime around the area too?" BMitch asked. "I don't like to get on a soapbox, but it amazes me how people wants to speak because now someone is afraid; Dan Snyder is gone, so people have to get off their asses now and work. It's been easy for the owners of Cap One to sit there and do nothing, because they got everything because the evil one was over there. Now he's gone, now you have to work. So don't tell me about what stadium to build if you can't work on the crime! If you are the Councilman you claim you are, Charles Allen, how about you get off your ass and make sure it's safer for people to want to go back around there. How many people aren't because of what's going on outside the arena? Try that, because that's more important to me and everyone who shops around there on a regular basis."
JP Finlay was not as worked up, but definitely was feeling BMitch's thoughts, and said 'the answer is obvious.'
"I recognize that the budgeting process for DC is probably quite messed up right now because of COVID and the impact of people not going to work anymore; they're not going to work, so they're not buying lunch at the deli, or parking, or going to happy hour spots, and all of that revenue adds up," JP said. "That's the problem, not arenas and stadiums. The problem isn't having to come up with the money to build or provide a tax incentive to build at RFK. This shouldn't be a zero-sum game, where we have to pay to build RFK so we can't help refurbish Capital One – they should do both!"
Want to make up lost revenue? Maybe this will help…
"If you get all four of your teams in the District, you want to talk about long-term economic benefit? That's it right there!" JP screamed while pounding on the desk.
And that's when BMitch went back to his "Capital One mouthpiece" thought on the op-ed.
"Who wouldn't want to have the stadium back in a prominent spot? People who own the other one, because they know football is king. Point blank," Brian said.
And then, JP had another interesting idea.
"I don't know enough about the legislative process, but it's a Federal city, and that's Federal land, right? Why can't the Feds throw a little money at the stadium?" JP asked. "Look at other world capitals like Tokyo and Paris and London – they have national showcases that people in the country take pride in. Why can't that happen here?"
"Because we play politics here all the time, instead of doing what's right," Brian replied.
JP agreed with Allen's thoughts that if DC let Monumental Sports leave the District, the city would lose almost nightly economic activity, so don't let them walk away – but the guys ain't buying the narrative.
"They've been there the whole time! It's not Cap One, it's the fact people are not going back to work! If you get people in the buildings, that's going to come back!" Brian said.
"The Caps and Wiz had all their games, and there was just two nights of Drake there," JP replied. "It's not the games that are killing Chinatown, it's no one going to their office! That ain't about tax incentives; behaviors have changed because of pandemic, and good luck putting that genie back in the bottle. This doesn't have to be about an arena – they're having the games and the area is deteriorating, probably because of government policy."
Follow BMitch & Finlay on Twitter: @BMitchlive30, @JPFinlayNBCS, and @BMitchandFinlay
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