A HUGE day at Capital One Arena got even bigger on 106.7 The Fan, as Grant & Danny got a rare media appearance from Monumental Sports head and Wizards and Capitals owner Ted Leonsis!
And as we found out, that’s because there’s no rest for the wicked, especially Leonsis, who really has no off-season as the head of an entity running five professional sports teams.
“I’m excited, but t’s also daunting to know you’re on-boarding all these new executives and making sure they do well in the draft and free agency, and then summer league…there’s really no off-season anymore,” Leonsis told G&D. “We hired a new Capitals coach, Mystics season just kicked off, and we’re integrating all this new technology at NBC Sports Washington, so it’s a busy, busy time.”
Championships are the goal, but Leonsis thinks the Wizards have already checked off one success in becoming a destination – and part of that was Monumental Basketball President Michael Winger buying in immediately to the idea of bringing in the best of the best no matter what.
“We had several people on our wish list to interview, and when we told Michael these were some people we were talking to, he said, ‘I know them, they’re great, why don’t I see if we can bring them onto the team?’” Leonsis said. “That is not common in sports; when you hire a No. 1 person, they’re often reluctant to hire great people underneath them out of the gate because they’re insecure. Travis (Schlenk) worked in Golden State and was Michael in Atlanta, and Will (Dawkins) is an up-and-coming youn exec from a great organization. John Thompson III helped me out greatly and is being underutilized in the organization right now, and with Wes (Unseld Jr,), he comes from a program (Denver) that’s in the Finals. Overnight, I think we’ve created a front office that is really deep, but now, they have a lot of work to do. Michael is very thoughtful, but he has a lot of smart people around him, because today’s NBA is no longer a mom-and-pop business; there are big decisions with big dollars involved, putting money not just towards payroll but also towards infrastructure.”
The Capitals have a similar structure to what the Wizards do now with Schlenk and Dawkins under Winger, as GM Brian MacLellan and company work under Caps president Dick Patrick – and that’s exactly what Leonsis wanted to model as he rebuilt his front office under Winger.
“We have the (AHL) Hershey Bears – I have three rings from the Bears, and they’re in the Calder Cup Finals again. It takes a lot of time, effort, and money; we hire the coach and GM, it’s part of our organization,” Leonsis said. “We now have a G-League team, and it’s all about that management. We have two facilities that are really important, and it’s a big job, it’s not just being a GM. Dick is a lawyer by training, and his family has been all about hockey – he’s a partner who owns equity, and I never once thought of Dick making a decision as if he wasn’t an owner. He runs the Capitals, and I don’t get involved much; he’ll give me a plan before the season, and if there’s a big decision, like re-signing Alex Ovechkin, he’ll talk to me, but it’s self-contained, and it has to be. It’s a big business on its own, but it’s just one of many big businesses within Monumental Sports and Entertainment.”
Capital One Arena is also one of the most active venues in sports, with Leonsis saying they had over 3,000,000 fans attend this season between all the teams, and Monumental is drawing revenues higher than the Commanders, especially now that Leonsis also owns NBC Sports Washington – so he needs that kind of structure to make sure all of his entities thrive the way they should.
“I’m the managing partner of sorts for all the owners and make the ultimate decisions, but I have to worry about everything, so we need professionals who just focus on basketball or hockey or E-sports,” Leonsis said.
And as for why the structure of the Wizards is now falling in line the same way the other entities are, well, take this quote about what’s frustrated him about his hoops team.
“From the day we bought the Capitals, we have one of the best records in the league, and I was at an NHL Owner’s Meeting this week where we saw we’re really high in a lot of categories,” Leonsis said. “The Mystics, we have the winningest coach and MVP players and have won a championship, and we won an arena football championship, and a championship in E-Sports…we know what we’re doing, but if we knew (why the Wizards weren’t having the same success), it would’ve been fixed!”
They may have identified it now, though, and that’s why Leonsis not only changed the structure, but also the foundation of the building as well.
“We knew we had to go outside the organization, and be interruptive to what we’ve been doing,” Leonsis said. “These individuals didn’t need a job, so they did as much due diligence on us as we did on them; they could’ve gone someplace else but wanted the right opportunity, and they define us as a big market, patient ownership, and an organization that will give you the resources to be successful, where we’re aligned on what it will take and how long it will take. I’m criticized for being loyal and patient, but that’s the tool that attracted this team, a strong front office that has been built very quickly.”
Looking around other leagues, Leonsis knows the path to success is young executives who have learned in winning organizations, so “these talented, gifted people” will get time and resources to get the job done…as long as they develop, and stick to, the long-term plan.
“I don’t like terminating executives, but when you present a plan that everyone believes in, and then you make a different decision and that snowballs, that’s what ends up with multiple bad decisions,” Leonsis said. “Where the Wizards were, I felt we needed a plan and an executive team that could listen through and find the signal and not chasing the noise.”
So why should Wizards fans believe the Leonsis has indeed given this new front office the keys to the kingdom and the power to do whatever it takes to make this franchise a winner?
“Just look at my track record as an owner, and what we did with the Caps, and with the Wizards when I first came here – we’ve made the playoffs five of the last 10 years, but I’m not afraid of a rebuild,” Leonsis said. “What I told them was this is what we have, come in and assess, and this is a blank canvas; come to me with the plan, you’re accountable and I’m up for whatever you tell me will get us to the right place. They’re totally empowered. No one wants to come be the No. 1 person for a team knowing they’re not going to be the one making the calls – Michael has my assurance that he has the keys.”
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