Wizards and Caps could be moving to Potomac Yard

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Abe Pollin trusted Leonsis. Pollin moved the team into DC to help the city. Leonsis is pulling a Dan Snyder and will be cursed with a losing franchise. How you can’t build a NBA , NHL juggernaut in DC with no teams in Maryland and Virginia shows you are a loser. It’s probably the most massive concentrated uncovered market by one team in each sport in the country. Leonsis is a fatter, sloppier version of Snyder.

Yep … a marketing spaz. If you have a team in DC you name it the

“Chesapeake Swamp “

Covers the whole mid Atlantic with a nod to DC

It’s like they can’t even see the opportunities.

He needs to hire you.. that may even pull in part of Delaware

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:As I posted in the other thread, this is about the teams getting leverage so the DC Government will pony up a half billion dollars to renovate a 25 year old arena.

I can say based on texts with people in my friend groups that none of us in DC or MD would go to any games in the future.

I agree 100%. As a frequent attendee at Caps games, I certainly would attend fewer games if the games were held in PY. The current location is highly convenient for me, whether I drive or take Metro. The idea of attending a weekday game at PY has zero appeal.

Don't worry, there'll be plenty of fans in Virginia that'll take your place. It might surprise you to know sports franchises don't care who buys the ticket.

but there won't be

Alexandria is a horrific location for the vast majority of the population

You alienate Moco, Howard co, PG county and most of NW DC. All of them are key players for season tickets/suites.

It will be GREAT for fans traveling to see the visiting team play given its location to DCA..just what Leonsis wants

And they will probably fly into IAD.

How does proximity to an airport help fans? You can't bring luggage into a stadium. You can't even bring a backpack. They'd still have to get there from wherever

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If people want to go to a game they will go, it doesn’t matter if it’s in va. Hockey fans are raving and it seems like most come from southern Maryland already.

Then, you are unaware of the rapid growth of hockey on MoCo and Howard Counties. Those fans will not be driving to PY. No chance.

[Anonymous]

Maybe, we should force the teams to rename themselves. Virginia or Alexandria Caps. Virginia or Alexandria Wizards.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If people want to go to a game they will go, it doesn’t matter if it’s in va. Hockey fans are raving and it seems like most come from southern Maryland already.

No one I know in VA is happy about it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We need to recall the Mayor. This is unbelievable. All the money is leaving the city.

You need to recall council. They co trol budget approval and they alll have their head in the sand about crime. Charles Allen ran unopposed. Nadeau is useless.

Allen had legislation to offer u the 600 million over the summer. The mayor ignored it. Allen is not the bad guy here.

[Anonymous]

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They clearly didn’t think through many critical aspects of this project.

I doubt you or the Twidiot have ever been to an outdoor concert. The airport is likely to call and ask them to turn it down so they can hear themselves in the control tower.

They re-route traffic at LGA for the US Open, which is farther than this is to DCA.

Because the grunting of the players is too loud?

Planes taking off are very loud. 140+ decibels loud.

You think that is going to attract artists?

I suppose I will ask. Do the people in the current shopping plaza have trouble talking to each other with all the plane noise?

Does anyone actually hang out outside there?

There is a kids park directly below the metro, so yes.

Do parents really take their kid to play at a SuperFund site?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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They clearly didn’t think through many critical aspects of this project.

I doubt you or the Twidiot have ever been to an outdoor concert. The airport is likely to call and ask them to turn it down so they can hear themselves in the control tower.

They re-route traffic at LGA for the US Open, which is farther than this is to DCA.

Because the grunting of the players is too loud?

Planes taking off are very loud. 140+ decibels loud.

You think that is going to attract artists?

I suppose I will ask. Do the people in the current shopping plaza have trouble talking to each other with all the plane noise?

Does anyone actually hang out outside there?

There is a kids park directly below the metro, so yes.

Do parents really take their kid to play at a SuperFund site?

Next to a +140 dB airport!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As I posted in the other thread, this is about the teams getting leverage so the DC Government will pony up a half billion dollars to renovate a 25 year old arena.

I can say based on texts with people in my friend groups that none of us in DC or MD would go to any games in the future.

I agree 100%. As a frequent attendee at Caps games, I certainly would attend fewer games if the games were held in PY. The current location is highly convenient for me, whether I drive or take Metro. The idea of attending a weekday game at PY has zero appeal.

Don't worry, there'll be plenty of fans in Virginia that'll take your place. It might surprise you to know sports franchises don't care who buys the ticket.

but there won't be

Alexandria is a horrific location for the vast majority of the population

You alienate Moco, Howard co, PG county and most of NW DC. All of them are key players for season tickets/suites.

It will be GREAT for fans traveling to see the visiting team play given its location to DCA..just what Leonsis wants

And they will probably fly into IAD.

How does proximity to an airport help fans? You can't bring luggage into a stadium. You can't even bring a backpack. They'd still have to get there from wherever

Well, shockingly, there are hotels right next to airports...how does proximity to an airport NOT help fans?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If people want to go to a game they will go, it doesn’t matter if it’s in va. Hockey fans are raving and it seems like most come from southern Maryland already.

I can't ever see a scenario where I go to a game there. If you gave me free courtside tickets on a weekend, maybe; otherwise, nothing is worth the headache of getting to and from Potomac Yards from Bethesda/Potomac/CC

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If people want to go to a game they will go, it doesn’t matter if it’s in va. Hockey fans are raving and it seems like most come from southern Maryland already.

I can't ever see a scenario where I go to a game there. If you gave me free courtside tickets on a weekend, maybe; otherwise, nothing is worth the headache of getting to and from Potomac Yards from Bethesda/Potomac/CC

100% agree.

I have been in touch with friends who have STH for either of the teams and to a person, none of them will be renewing. I am sure Ted will find people to buy these tickets, but particularly for basketball, it will be a very hard sell.

And his bailing on the St Elizabeths arena is a travesty. He should pay the city back for that investment that HE demanded.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If people want to go to a game they will go, it doesn’t matter if it’s in va. Hockey fans are raving and it seems like most come from southern Maryland already.

I can't ever see a scenario where I go to a game there. If you gave me free courtside tickets on a weekend, maybe; otherwise, nothing is worth the headache of getting to and from Potomac Yards from Bethesda/Potomac/CC

Agree 100%. How to piss off a large and long-standing portion of your dedicated fan base! If Ted is leaving DC, then DC Council should start taxing the teams. No reason not to.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Maybe, we should force the teams to rename themselves. Virginia or Alexandria Caps. Virginia or Alexandria Wizards.

And "force" them how? Through DC Council pronouncements? ANC resolutions?! The Bowser administration dithered in getting serious about retaining the Wizards and the Caps, because Bowser didn't think they would ever leave and was too focused on making her "legacy" returning NFL football to the District. Council members, by and large, are not considered as serious players, either. The pfffffffftt you hear today is DC's leverage deflating like a busted tire.

[Anonymous]

Meh. PY is still in the core DC metro area. It isn’t like it’s eastern Purceville, VA or Clarksburg, MD. It will still be Metro accessible too. Big economic loss for DC though, but it’s government doesn’t really care about businesses or their patrons.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Meh. PY is still in the core DC metro area. It isn’t like it’s eastern Purceville, VA or Clarksburg, MD. It will still be Metro accessible too. Big economic loss for DC though, but it’s government doesn’t really care about businesses or their patrons.

I think you are underestimating how much longer it will take people who aren't in the Shirlington-Alexandira area to access Potomac Yards.

Gallery Place literally sits on 3 metro lines and is a block from two others. That is a far cry from being on the edge of two lines with a solid 25 minuts of travel time to get to the other lines with a transfer. Add to it the lack of road capacity at Potomac Yards and lack of ability for expansion. The Parkway cannot be widened and they cannot add an exit there to the arena area, so drivers will need to come down Route 1 through Crystal City or else come back on Rt 1 from the Parkway south. It is a very constrained area from a regional perspective, which is very different from Gallery Place, particularly when you consider that people driving to downtown were usually going against rush hour traffic, whereas people going to Potomac Yards will be mixed in with Rush Hour traffic.

I just don't see people from NW DC, Montgomery County, Howard County and the parts of PG near College Park and Hyattsville making the trek. Sure they may be some from the Oxen Hill area who can take the Beltway and come north, but that isn't a huge part of the game-supporting population.