D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser believes the deal to keep the Washington Capitals and Wizards downtown gives the District a lift as the city faces a tough 2025 budget.
A week ago, officials in Alexandria, Virginia, announced they had ended negotiations on plans for a $2 billion sports and entertainment complex that was intended to house the Caps and Wizards. Hours later, a jubilant Bowser announced she had signed a tentative deal with the teams' majority owner, Ted Leonsis, to keep the Caps and Wizards in the District "at least until 2050."
Bowser's budget proposal gives $515 million to help remodel Capital One Arena, while also cutting hundreds of millions of dollars from social programs.
"Investing in our downtown that is the economic engine of our city is what we must do in a post-pandemic world, and we know that when we have a vibrant and growing downtown, we generate more tax revenues, we create more jobs, we invite more tourists, and when we have that, we can invest in more social programs," Bowser said. "So, it's not a question of either/or. We have to have great economic development and job creation and revenue growth so that we can have great social programs."
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Bowser said she can feel the relief around the city now that the Caps and Wizards will no longer be relocating to Northern Virginia.
"I think that the collective spirit around the city has been lifted, because it's a shot in the arm for the downtown, and it gives us great hope about getting back on that fast revenue growth that we've experienced for the last 15 years to keep the types of investments in our social programs that we're proud of," Bowser said.
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The budget is now in the hands of the D.C. Council, which began a series of public hearings Thursday, with hundreds signed up to testify.
"The biggest thing is that I hope that they stand firm on our public safety investments, and I also would ask them to hold the line on increasing taxes on our residents on properties on commercial properties or their incomes," Bowser said.
As for the negotiations with Monumental Sports and Entertainment, the company that owns the Caps and the Wizards, Bowser says one key turning point was when she and Monumental CEO Leonsis began meeting face-to-face in private.
"What I learned by only talking to Ted — and we are supported by great staffs, both of us, at D.C. government and at Monumental Sports, but only talking to him — that I realized very clearly that he was also probably equally concerned with our vision for the downtown, and he had to see himself in it," she said.
As for whether she supports all the added provisions Leonsis has asked for — including exempting Monumental from any new taxes that would support any other sports teams such as the Washington Commanders — Bowser replied, "So there are things that we will continue to negotiate on, but I don't see any of the terms as deal breakers."
Correction (Friday, April 5): D.C. Council's hearings began on Thursday. This article has been updated with the correct day of the week.
