When Ted Leonsis was on the stage in Alexandria, Va. sat with Gov. Glenn Younkin announcing a partnership on a new arena deal that would take the teams he owns – the Washington Capitals and Washington Wizards – out of D.C. across the river, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser was watching and noticed that none of the people on the stage "seemed very happy, including Ted."
"And I knew from my previous conversation that they didn't have a deal," Bowser told Kevin Sheehan on Monday. "And they were kind of talking about an idea and an idea that had a long way to go."
Now, just a few months later, Bowser and Leonsis signed a deal last week that would keep the teams in their downtown D.C. home for another two decades, ending the owner’s proposed move to Virginia.
"It's a great week for me and the city, but especially the city," Bowser told Sheehan. "We worked really hard. We were unified in advancing what we always believed to be a very good deal for Monumental. And we are on our way to having the Wizards and Capitals at home for the next... 26 years till 2050."
As part of the deal D.C. will spend $515 million over the next three years to help Leonsis modernize their home arena.
In the announcement, Sheehan was struck by Leonsis saying last week that Bowser had "essentially said to him at one point you'll be back, you'll see." Why did the Mayor feel that way?
"I've been involved in a lot of development deals. I've been mayor for almost 10 years. I chaired the Council's Economic Development Committee before that when I was on the council for eight years and there's certain things that successful economic development deals, that have public money, involve," Bowser said. "And when they start off kind of behind closed doors and you don't know what the terms are and there's nothing signed and the [Virginia] legislature is not involved. It kinda opens the door to a lot of risk. And I just always believed that this was a risky proposition from, from that political point of view, from a performance point of view, from a brand point of view.
"And quite frankly, I wondered if the final product would be at all interesting or would it be kind of a knockoff building that we've seen happen around us before."
When asked about how important this move to keep the teams in D.C. is for her personal political legacy, Bowser said it is "important for D.C."
"Everything that's good for D.C., is good for the mayor," she said, adding "And I think what this period has demonstrated is that we mean business in D.C. We stand by our word. I can't tell you the number of people that said, 'Well, you shouldn't give him anything now that he's coming back.' And that's wrong because we see it as an investment in the downtown, not just in one business. And that's what we're doing.
"I think what's also been demonstrated is how much we love sports and how much sports is critical to our economy. So we're talking about Capital One Arena. We have Opening Day a little bit later at Nats Park, which has been a tremendous success for our city, as well."
As far as using the leverage over Leonsis after the Virginia deal fell through, Bowser said D.C. made the deal they did because they "don't want a half renovation" of the existing arena.
"We want a renovation that is going to last until 2050," Bowser told Sheehan. "And we know we've looked at all of the sports investments and arenas around the country. We know what it's going to take for them to be competitive and we also want them to be able to build winning teams here and the facilities are important."
With the commitment to sports comes a question about getting the Washington Commanders to return to the franchise's historic home with a new stadium at the RFK Stadium site.
"Well, we have been very focused, my entire tenure as mayor, we've been working to get control of the RFK campus and that's step one," Bowser said of the nearly 200 acres of land. "And what some don't realize is right now until the law changes, the only thing that can be built there is a sports complex or stadium. That's the only thing that's allowed is a single-use sports and recreation.
"So the bill that we have before the Congress would allow for a multiplicity of uses including a stadium but not necessarily including a stadium. So we are very focused on getting that done. We're obviously very excited about the new ownership of the Commanders, they are very committed to D.C. They're very committed to building a winning franchise and having a great fan experience and have direct experience with what RFK means to the region."
Does the $515 million that goes to Capital One Arena impact getting the football team back to the District?
"One has absolutely nothing to do with the other," Bowser told Sheehan. "We have been pursuing both for many years. And if anything, it will allow us having Monumental the on the right track, would allow us to focus ou energies, our planning energies and political energies on RFK."