Washington’s NBA and NHL franchises are planning to depart their longtime home in the nation’s capital for a new facility in Northern Virginia.
Capital One Arena in Washington, DC, was the first US sports arena to host an on-site retail sportsbook. Now its marquee tenants want to leave for the suburbs. (Image: DC Post)
Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R) and the teams’ owner, Ted Leonsis, Wednesday announced plans to build a new arena complex for the Washington Wizards and Capitals in Alexandria, Va., a few miles from the teams’ longtime home in central Washington, DC, Capital One Arena.
If all goes according to plan, the new arena will begin construction in 2025 and the teams would relocate by 2028. Several hurdles remain between now and then, including state and local government approvals, and the DC government is still trying to convince Leonsis to change his mind.
Monumental Sports and Entertainment, the Leonsis-led firm that manages the team and arena, said it hopes to keep Capital One Arena open as home to the WNBA Washington Mystics as well as concerts and events throughout the year.
DC’s Most Lucrative Sportsbook
It is unclear what the announcement would mean for the Caesars Sportsbook located inside Capital One Arena. Representatives for Caesars and Monumental did not respond to requests for comment Wednesday.
The sportsbook is the most lucrative of the retail sports betting facilities in the District of Columbia.
Bettors wagered nearly $6 million at the Caesars Sportsbook inside Capital One Arena in October of this year, the most recent month for which data are available, according to the DC Lottery Commission. By comparison, the second largest handle that month in the city came in at $3.3 million from the Bet MGM sportsbook at Nationals Park, home of the city’s MLB franchise.
If the sportsbook remains open, losing its marquee tenants may reduce visits to the site, although the arena’s convenient location close to DC’s central business district should help it maintain some foot traffic.
Indeed, even during the NHL and NBA offseason, bettors who wagered in person were more likely to go to Capital One than anywhere else in DC. In July, the slowest month of the year, Caesars handle at Capital One was nearly $2.7 million, compared to $1.2 million at Bet MGM at Nats Park.
A New Outpost for Virginia Sports Betting?
The proposed Virginia facility is being pitched as a “World-Class Entertainment District” that would include a new arena, corporate headquarters for Monumental Sports & Entertainment, team practice facilities, a performing arts venue and other development.
The announcement made no mention of plans for a sportsbook in the arena, but sports betting is legal in Virginia so it would be unsurprising to see one proposed for the site. Caesars has been a licensed vendor in Virginia since 2021, but it is only available online.
While in-arena sportsbooks have become relatively common in the five years sports betting has proliferated in the U.S., they are not something previously contemplated in the Old Dominion. Virginia is currently the largest U.S. state that is not home to a major professional sports franchise.
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