A long-lionized team owner is facing some real public pushback, for perhaps the first time in his extended run in sports, and is now trying to change minds.

Ted Leonsis, the chair of Monumental Sports and Entertainment and for more than two decades a highly popular figure in Washington, penned a nearly 2,600-word open letter about his much-debated, $2 billion effort to build a new arena and mixed-use development for the NBA Wizards and NHL Capitals in Alexandria, Va. The missive—highly unusual in both length and specificity compared to other team owners pursuing stadium or arena projects—amounts to his most substantive response to date as the proposal faces growing opposition in both D.C. and Virginia. 

“I find the notion that sports arenas and stadiums do not provide economic benefit to be simply illogical,” Leonsis wrote. “Professional sports teams are important to the fabric of a community. The buildings they play in bring people together, they drive economic growth, and they are worthy of investment.”

Among other key arguments Leonsis makes:

• He champions his long-held belief that the Washington area is actually becoming a “supercity,” with the team’s media market stretching from Richmond to southern Delaware, and continued growth within that area reducing geographic distinctions. “Monumental Sports and Entertainment has always been about the entire DMV,” Leonsis writes, referring to the District of Columbia, Maryland, and Virginia.
• He seeks to counter the argument that the Alexandria project would reduce accessibility for Wizards and Capitals fans, particularly ones from Maryland, and cites the 2.6 miles from the Potomac Yard location to the D.C. border. But that short distance can require anywhere from 30 to 90 minutes in typical Washington rush-hour traffic, and the proposed new arena is not nearly as centrally-located within the area’s Metro system. 
• The size of the land, he argues, is critical in the strategy behind the project, with the 12 acres in the Virginia parcel more than tripling the 3.8-acre size of Capital One Arena, the teams’ current home. “Professional sports teams are realizing that to build championship-level contenders, an outsized investment in space is required,” Leonsis said. 
• Monumental, he says, is planning to contribute $400 million toward the project, with the rest coming from public bonds primarily funded by lease payments from the teams and development-related tax revenues. The effort also calls for more than $100 million in upfront subsidies from the city of Alexandria.  

Despite the big move toward transparency, Leonsis is likely to face more obstacles in his path. Legislation has been introduced in the Virginia General Assembly, but state-level political opposition has already surfaced to join pockets of objection among local residents. 

Two of the most controversial facility developments in pro sports are facing new rounds of opposition and uncertainty, once again placing their ultimate success in some doubt.

As Philadelphia’s city council held its first legislative session of the year on Thursday, protesters of the 76ers’ plan to build a new $1.55 billion arena in Center City gathered outside, extending what has been months of objection against the plan, particularly from neighboring Chinatown. The council is beginning to consider enabling legislation for the proposed venue.

Among the key issues at play is financing, as the 76ers intend to fund the project privately, only leaving the possibility for federal and state funds should they qualify for certain existing programs. Opponents see that as a likely back door to ultimately taking taxpayer money. 

“Public money should be spent on the public good, not on the wants of billionaire arena developers,” said Mohan Seshadri, executive director of the Asian Pacific Islanders Political Alliance, who was on hand for the protest. 

The team, however, says it has gathered more than 30,000 signatures for a petition supporting the arena, and it has pledged to maintain an open dialogue with the communities most impacted by the arena project.

“There continues to exist misinformation and canvassing allows our team to meet people where they are to provide facts and answer questions,” said David Adelman, 76ers co-owner and chair of 76 DevCo, the company leading the arena effort. 

The prospect of the downtown arena has roiled the city for months, particularly as Wells Fargo Center owner Comcast Spectator have made a fervent push of its own to keep the 76ers at the south Philadelphia arena.  

Little Insight From A’s Owner

More than 2,000 miles to the west, the still-tenuous plan in Las Vegas to build a new Oakland A’s ballpark is arguably no closer to reality. Nearly two months after hitting the planned-but-canceled date to release new renderings for a stadium along the Las Vegas Strip (the original set of drawings was acknowledged by the team to be garbage), questions continue to surround the project. 

With the team pushing to open the new facility by the start of the 2028 season, there is still no clarity on its temporary home for the 2025-27 seasons, whether the facility will have a retractable roof as originally planned, or how well the planned ballpark will work on the relatively tight, nine-acre site.

A’s owner John Fisher made a rare public appearance on Wednesday at an event held by the Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce, but he offered little to answer those questions. He did say the new renderings are still being finalized.

“Nothing ever goes in a completely straight line,” Fisher said. “But we are working really well together with our partners, we have a tremendous team” of architects, designers, and builders. 

Just days after the WWE struck a landmark $5 billion media rights deal with Netflix, a new lawsuit accuses the wrestling promotion’s founder, Vince McMahon, of sexual assault and sex trafficking.

McMahon is now the executive chairman of TKO Group Holdings, the parent company of WWE and UFC, which came together last year as part of a $21 billion merger. But the lawsuit, filed by a former female WWE employee and first reported by the Wall Street Journal, covers a time period from 2019 to 2022. McMahon stepped down as CEO of WWE in June 2022 when WWE announced it was investigating a reported $3 million settlement McMahon is alleged to have paid to an outgoing employee with whom he was said to have had an affair.

In the new lawsuit, which can be viewed here, Janel Grant, the former employee, claims to have been “the victim of physical and emotional abuse, sexual assault and trafficking at WWE.” Grant says that McMahon and former WWE head of talent relations John Laurinaitis forced themselves upon her, and that McMahon attempted to get Grant to have sex with a wrestler WWE was trying to sign.

In response to the filing, a spokesperson for McMahon told several media outlets: “This lawsuit is replete with lies, obscene made-up instances that never occurred, and a vindictive distortion of the truth. He will vigorously defend himself.” TKO, for its part, distanced itself from McMahon, saying: “Mr. McMahon does not control TKO, nor does he oversee the day-to-day operations of WWE. While this matter pre-dates our TKO executive team’s tenure at the company, we take Ms. Grant’s horrific allegations very seriously and are addressing this matter internally.”

Separate from McMahon’s situation, Dana White, CEO of TKO subsidiary UFC, last year avoided punishment after a video showed him slapping his wife.