Outside the Verizon Center at 1 PM on Thursday, the temperature was flirting with 90 degrees, panhandlers were seeking shade, tourists were getting lost and found—and inside the arena, the son of Greek immigrants was describing his philosophy as he formally took over as the capital city’s top sports-and-entertainment impresario.
“It is official,” Ted Leonsis told the gathered media, fellow owners, and a sprinkling of invited fans. “The Capitals, the Wizards, the Mystics, Verizon Center, and Ticketmaster are now part of the same organization.” And Leonsis—who owns the Capitals hockey team and part of the other enterprises—is in charge, having completed the purchase from the family of Abe Pollin.
Leonsis, 53, once again displayed his remarkable facility at communicating and connecting with an audience. He glided from paying homage to Abe Pollin as he “tries to step into the shoes of a sports and social entrepreneur”; to his adoration for his wife and two children; to his rapprochement with Gilbert Arenas, the wayward Wizards star who is suspended from the league for bringing guns into the Verizon Center and served a month in a halfway house this spring.
“It’s very important for Gilbert to be re-embraced as a person and a player,” Leonsis said, but he needs to “show atonement.” Leonsis smiled and said he’s been e-mailing with Arenas: “I kind of like him, y’know?”
Leonsis promised to be very involved in running the teams and the arena. Turns out one of the 158 fans who e-mailed Leonsis about the purchase complained about the quality and quantity of the ketchup, and Leonsis promised he’d check the dispensers himself.
The mogul says he’ll also pay personal attention to his goal of having the most season-ticket holders in the NBA: “I will personally drive season-ticket holders to games, mow their lawns, wash their cars.”
Abe Pollin ran the Wizards as a family business under his privately owned Washington Sports and Entertainment. Leonsis brings with him the large ownership group of Lincoln Holdings, which he has merged with Pollin’s company and renamed Monumental Sports and Entertainment.
“They are my brothers and sisters,” Leonsis said of his partners. Among those seated to his right were Dick Patrick, Raul Fernandez, and Sheila Johnson—the three vice chairmen under his spot as majority owner. Mark Lerner, part of the family that owns the Nationals, was on hand. To make the deal—worth $550 million, he said—Leonsis brought on Scott Brickman, CEO of the Brickman Group, and SWaN Investors, represented by Frederick Schaufeld.
The political class was well represented. DC Council finance chair Jack Evans had a front-row seat, down the row from Maryland attorney general Doug Gansler and Virginia senator Mark Warner. Neither DC mayor Adrian Fenty nor Council chair Vince Gray made it, though they were invited.
I asked Warner whether he came as a fan or as a friend to Leonsis, Fernandez, and other businessmen he worked with in his entrepreneurial days.
“Many of them are my friends,” he said, especially Leonsis. “It’s cool to see a world-class guy build a world-class franchise.”
Warner said he was once a Wizards season-ticket holder. Would he become one again? “I have this day job,” he said. He’d love to get his three daughters aboard as Wizards fans. He certainly won’t be taking any free seats: “Ethics rules, you know.”
Leonsis Takes Charge
With business and political leaders on hand, Ted Leonsis debuts as Washington’s top entertainment mogul
Outside the Verizon Center at 1 PM on Thursday, the temperature was flirting with 90 degrees, panhandlers were seeking shade, tourists were getting lost and found—and inside the arena, the son of Greek immigrants was describing his philosophy as he formally took over as the capital city’s top sports-and-entertainment impresario.
“It is official,” Ted Leonsis told the gathered media, fellow owners, and a sprinkling of invited fans. “The Capitals, the Wizards, the Mystics, Verizon Center, and Ticketmaster are now part of the same organization.” And Leonsis—who owns the Capitals hockey team and part of the other enterprises—is in charge, having completed the purchase from the family of Abe Pollin.
Leonsis, 53, once again displayed his remarkable facility at communicating and connecting with an audience. He glided from paying homage to Abe Pollin as he “tries to step into the shoes of a sports and social entrepreneur”; to his adoration for his wife and two children; to his rapprochement with Gilbert Arenas, the wayward Wizards star who is suspended from the league for bringing guns into the Verizon Center and served a month in a halfway house this spring.
“It’s very important for Gilbert to be re-embraced as a person and a player,” Leonsis said, but he needs to “show atonement.” Leonsis smiled and said he’s been e-mailing with Arenas: “I kind of like him, y’know?”
Leonsis promised to be very involved in running the teams and the arena. Turns out one of the 158 fans who e-mailed Leonsis about the purchase complained about the quality and quantity of the ketchup, and Leonsis promised he’d check the dispensers himself.
The mogul says he’ll also pay personal attention to his goal of having the most season-ticket holders in the NBA: “I will personally drive season-ticket holders to games, mow their lawns, wash their cars.”
Abe Pollin ran the Wizards as a family business under his privately owned Washington Sports and Entertainment. Leonsis brings with him the large ownership group of Lincoln Holdings, which he has merged with Pollin’s company and renamed Monumental Sports and Entertainment.
“They are my brothers and sisters,” Leonsis said of his partners. Among those seated to his right were Dick Patrick, Raul Fernandez, and Sheila Johnson—the three vice chairmen under his spot as majority owner. Mark Lerner, part of the family that owns the Nationals, was on hand. To make the deal—worth $550 million, he said—Leonsis brought on Scott Brickman, CEO of the Brickman Group, and SWaN Investors, represented by Frederick Schaufeld.
The political class was well represented. DC Council finance chair Jack Evans had a front-row seat, down the row from Maryland attorney general Doug Gansler and Virginia senator Mark Warner. Neither DC mayor Adrian Fenty nor Council chair Vince Gray made it, though they were invited.
I asked Warner whether he came as a fan or as a friend to Leonsis, Fernandez, and other businessmen he worked with in his entrepreneurial days.
“Many of them are my friends,” he said, especially Leonsis. “It’s cool to see a world-class guy build a world-class franchise.”
Warner said he was once a Wizards season-ticket holder. Would he become one again? “I have this day job,” he said. He’d love to get his three daughters aboard as Wizards fans. He certainly won’t be taking any free seats: “Ethics rules, you know.”
Subscribe to Washingtonian
Follow Washingtonian on Twitter
More>> Capital Comment Blog | News & Politics | Party Photos
Most Popular in News & Politics
Every Bus Line in DC Is Changing This Weekend. Here’s What to Know.
Yet Another Anti-Trump Statue Has Shown Up on the National Mall
8 Takeaways From Usha Vance’s Interview With Meghan McCain
Another Mysterious Anti-Trump Statue Has Appeared on the National Mall
Bans on Underage Vaping, Swastika Graffiti, Synthetic Dyes: New Virginia Laws Go Into Effect in July
Washingtonian Magazine
July Issue: The "Best Of" Issue
View IssueSubscribe
Follow Us on Social
Follow Us on Social
Related
Your Story About How Pickleball Changed Your Life Could Get You a Game on the National Mall
How Would a New DC Stadium Compare to the Last One?
The Culture of Lacrosse Is More Complex Than People Think
Did Television Begin in Dupont Circle?
More from News & Politics
Pardoned J6er Will Join Ed Martin’s Justice Department Office, Trump Outlines Hypothetical Alligator Escape Plan, and We Have Fireworks Show Recommendations
The “World’s Largest Outdoor Museum” Is Coming to DC. Here’s a Preview.
A Cult Classic of Cannabis Brands Is Making Its DC Debut
The Commanders Wine and Dine DC Council Members; GOP Senator Suggests Tax Language Was “Airdropped” Into Spending Bill; and Trump Wants DOGE to Investigate Musk
100 Reasons to Love DC Right Now
How DC’s Attorney General Got So Good at Double Dutch
DC Council Ponders New Way to Expel Trayon White, the GOP’s Budget Bill Advances, and We Found You Some Tacos With Ethiopian Flair
For DNC Chair Ken Martin, the Big Beautiful Bill Is Personal