Washington, D.C.’s Capital One Arena was an influential early example of the use of sports facilities as centerpieces for urban renewal efforts. Though it took several years after its 1997 opening, the venue’s Chinatown neighborhood saw a marked rise in commercial activity, to the point where gentrification complaints were ultimately raised.

Twenty-six years later, Monumental Sports & Entertainment chairman Ted Leonsis, who owns the Washington Wizards and Capitals, is thinking even bigger. 

Leonsis and Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin announced on Wednesday plans to develop a $2 billion sports and entertainment district in Alexandria’s Potomac Yard, with the project set to include not only a new arena but a new practice facility for the Wizards, a performing arts center, a studio for the company’s Monumental Sports Network, hotels, a convention center, housing, and retail. 

The plan ultimately looks to take many of the same concepts initially applied to the development of Capital One Arena, but in a much larger, more unified project, and one keeping in the current “mini-city” trend sweeping the sports industry. MSE and Youngkin are targeting a 2028 opening.

“When we first came out here, I saw 70 acres and the ability to start with a clean slate, and imagine what an arena 30 years from now [would] need,” Leonsis said. “It really is a very, very romantic, but also pragmatic, vision that we have, [one] that we can’t do anywhere else.”

Public funding toward the effort will require legislative approval from the full Virginia General Assembly. “We’ve still got some work to do,” said Sen. Mark Warner of Virginia. “All of this will have to come together in a way that makes sense.”

District Battles

A key element in the background of Leonsis’s plans is the current state of D.C.’s Chinatown neighborhood. After that area’s rise, the pandemic and a more recent crime wave have heightened tensions. 

Leonsis says he is now eyeing Capital One Arena as a hub for women’s sports, including his own WNBA Mystics, and for concerts. But hours before the Wednesday announcement in Virginia, D.C. officials unveiled their own plan to provide $500 million in public money to renovate the current arena, now one of the oldest in both the NBA and NHL, and keep the Wizards and Capitals around.

That proposal is a marked reversal from prior resistance to MSE requests of up to $600 million in public funding.

“We know it’s best for the city, and quite frankly, we think it’s best for the entire [region],” said D.C. mayor Muriel Bowser. 

On Wednesday, a federal judge in West Virginia ruled to temporarily prohibit the NCAA from enforcing restrictions on second-time transfers for two weeks.

The lawsuit, State of Ohio et al v. NCAA, was filed last Thursday. Seven state attorneys general have alleged that the NCAA’s remaining restrictions on athlete eligibility after transferring a second time violate federal antitrust law.

The NCAA is also prohibited from enforcing its “Rule of Restitution,” according to the decision. That rule states that if a court grants eligibility to an athlete and later reverses that decision, the NCAA has the power to vacate records or wins that the team or athlete accomplished while they were playing.

The case was largely inspired by the story of West Virginia basketball player RaeQuan Battle, whose eligibility waiver was denied by the NCAA after he transferred from a program where his coach abruptly left. Battle, as well as Miami of Ohio quarterback Maddox Kopp and Cincinnati basketball player Jamille Reynolds, testified during the hearing, which lasted more than two-and-a-half hours Wednesday. 

The ruling technically only applies to athletes within the jurisdiction of the court: the northern district of West Virginia, Kennyhertz Perry sports attorney Mit Winter pointed out. However, the NCAA said in a statement that it will not enforce its rule at least for the next 14 days.

Northern District of West Virginia Judge John P. Bailey clarified he did not have time to address Battle’s specific situation. “The only thing I’m saying is that you can’t make a player sit out a year,” Bailey said.

Their testimony, which covered everything from name, image, and likeness issues to mental health, seemed to place a specific emphasis on the fact that coaches can leave their positions at a school at any time, and as many times they want, without repercussions. Players, however, are only allowed to transfer once without restriction. 

Wednesday’s decision is not a permanent strikedown of NCAA rules. The next hearing, which will be for a preliminary injunction to keep this rule in effect until the case goes to trial or is settled, will be Dec. 27.

Editor’s Note: This story has been updated with additional information.

Politicians and pro team executives in many U.S. cities now actively look to avoid stadium and arena votes, given the rising unpopularity of using taxpayer funds to benefit privately-held sports teams. But no such worries exist in Oklahoma City.

Voters there approved at least $850 million in public money to be used for a new downtown arena for the Thunder on Tuesday, supporting the measure by a 71% to 29% margin, with strong backing coming from each ward in the city. The funds will comprise the vast majority of a planned $900 million venue and mixed-use complex that will succeed the 21-year-old Paycom Center. Thunder owner Clay Bennett and other team investors will contribute the last $50 million toward the plan.

“With this project we will be doing more than just building a world-class sports and entertainment complex, we will be propelling Oklahoma City toward the next generation,” Bennett said. “This new home for the Thunder will serve as an iconic centerpiece of our vibrant and modern downtown.”

The team’s current Paycom Center lease expires in 2026, and the new deal keeps the Thunder in Oklahoma City until at least ’50.

‘Big-league City’

Some of the strong voter sentiment behind the arena-funding proposal likely stems from the rather unique nature of the Oklahoma City pro sports market: It is one of only a handful in the U.S. to host only one major pro team. (Locally, the Thunder are joined by just the Triple-A Oklahoma City Dodgers in baseball, the USL Championship’s OKC Energy FC, and the NBA G League’s Oklahoma City Blue.)

“Tonight … we told the world that Oklahoma City is and shall remain a big-league city,” mayor David Holt said after the vote. 

For context: Oklahoma City landed the Thunder largely because the franchise previously could not strike an arena-funding deal in Seattle. To that end, Oklahoma City council member JoBeth Hamon, a vocal opponent of the funding, argued that the deal “was negotiated from a position of fear and scarcity, which benefits those who are wealthy, while the benefits never trickle down to regular folks.”