Much has been made of the possible move of the Washington Capitals and the Washington Wizards from D.C. to Virginia. But what about the Washington Mystics?
If the proposal to move the men’s teams to Virginia becomes a reality, the owner of Monumental Sports, Ted Leonsis, has said he wants to move the Mystics from their current venue – the Entertainment and Sports Arena, on the St. Elizabeths campus east of the Anacostia River – to Capital One Arena downtown.
That may be easier said that done. Monumental is under contract with the District to use the ESA venue for Mystics games and Wizards practice. The $400,000-per-year contract calls for the teams to stay there until 2037.
A spokesperson for Mayor Muriel Bowser wrote, “The District honors its contracts, and we trust and expect our partners to do the same. This partnership and the arena it built have been a catalyst for change in Ward 8, creating jobs and opportunity and paving the way for new housing, retail, and health care on the St. Elizabeths East Campus. The Mystics organization and players have been strong supporters of Ward 8, and the community has embraced the team right back. We look forward to continuing this shared success.”
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A spokesperson for Monument told News4 the Mystics and women’s sports in general are outgrowing the ESA venue, which only holds about 4,000 fans.
“The fandom of women’s sports has exploded in recent years and the Mystics are consistently selling out their home games. We believe we can create a tailored gameday experience for that expanding fanbase and provide the space for this championship-winning team to continue growing the franchise to play for 10,000 fans within 3-5 years,” they said.
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Leonsis has said that if the Alexandria arena deal goes through as planned, the Caps and Wizards would move in 2028. He said he hopes to completely redesign Capital One arena, making the seating flexible so it could accommodate 10,000-seat events like women’s and college basketball and expand to 20,000 seats for concerts and other large events.
