WASHINGTON — A new NFL stadium? Bryce Harper’s next destination? Another Cup for the Caps? These are some of the burning questions in the D.C. sports world in the new year.
This is our second year doing this and, if we do say so ourselves, we did a pretty good job last year. From the Kirk Cousins saga to a D.C. team finally breaking through to win a title, we hit on a bunch of 2018’s dominant storylines. Of course, there were still plenty of surprises — otherwise, what’s the fun of sports?
All that just goes to set the bar higher for this year. Here are the stories we have our eyes on entering 2019.
Where will Bryce Harper land?
Spring Training is just six weeks away, but MLB’s biggest free agents have yet to find their new homes. For Bryce Harper, it’s still unclear just what his market is, and who might pony up that record-setting contract to get him. If they are truly intent on getting out of luxury tax jail for the foreseeable future, it’s hard to imagine the Nats paying Harper, given everywhere else they’ve spent money this offseason. But we’ve seen aging billionaires (see: Ilitch, Mike) go over the top spending in free agency before, and this is the time of year the Lerners haven’t been afraid to open the pocketbooks. And let’s be clear — they absolutely can afford him. Whatever happens, we’ll know soon.
(AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)
AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta
Will the Burgundy & Gold clean house? Will it matter?
Jay Gruden and Bruce Allen appear to have survived the NFL’s Black Monday guillotine, but it’s been some time since there’s been this much animosity from the fan base toward the front office in Ashburn. A return to contention requires much more than a simple hope that the existing roster returns to health, and the general consensus seems to be that sweeping change is needed. But will it happen? What if it doesn’t? If a franchise hits rock bottom, but nobody is in the stands to see, can we be sure it happened? And will anybody care?
(AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)
AP Photo/Andrew Harnik
What will legal sports betting look like?
The District is on pace to have legal sports books in operation by the summer, with Maryland and Virginia looking into joining the gold rush this year. But what will that actually mean for our experience as sports fans? Will it increase problem gambling? Will it actually lead to tangible tax revenues? Will it increase crime, or serve as another regressive tax on our poorest citizens? Will it lead to match-fixing or other integrity issues? Will it make us care less about our teams and more about the individual outcomes on which we wager? In what other fundamental ways will it alter the way we consume and appreciate sports?
(AP Photo/Wayne Parry)
AP Photo/Wayne Parry
Can Virginia redeem itself?
We’ll be watching highlights of UMBC’s historic upset forever. But while the Retrievers had their golden moment in the sun, Tony Bennett’s Cavaliers went back to work, grinding away at the pack line, and emerging into 2019 a spotless 11-0, receiving first place votes in both polls, a consensus top-five team in the nation. So, what to make of Virginia? Three 30-win seasons in the past five years have yielded just a single win in the tournament’s second weekend. That elusive Final Four appearance continues to escape them. Could the motivation of last year’s debacle be the fuel that finally gets them there?
(AP Photo/Gerry Broome)
AP Photo/Gerry Broome
Will the MASN case finally be resolved?
The bitter fight between the Nationals and Orioles over their shared television partner has reached its eighth (!) year in 2019. We’re repeating the process that brought a decision in the Nats favor several years ago (but which was thrown out because of a now-resolved potential conflict of interest), which means we may finally see this dispute come to an end. But the fundamental questions remain — can MASN afford to pay both teams a fair market value? If not, will it be dissolved? Where does that leave the Nats’ television future? The Orioles are still likely to appeal any decision that costs them money, but the possibility of a resolution is finally in sight.
(AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
AP Photo/Alex Brandon
Can the Mystics take the final step?
When Elene Delle Donne arrived in Washington two years ago, a year removed from an MVP season, she brought massive expectations with her. Those were partially realized last year, when the Mystics made the WNBA Finals before being swept by Seattle. But Delle Donne has to fight through a knee injury suffered in the semis against Atlanta. Returning at full strength with Emma Meesseman expected to rejoin the team midseason, the Mystics will be playing in their sparkling new arena (complete with a more flexible schedule, including more weekend home games). There are other strong teams across the league, but Washington looks even better than they did last year.
(Photo by Rob Carr/Getty Images)
Photo by Rob Carr/Getty Images
Can Wayne Rooney recapture the magic of his first season?
D.C. sports fans know this script well. A thrilling franchise revitalization that energizes a franchise’s fan base anew. A star player that catalyzes that unquantifiable energy that makes sports so magnetic. A crushing home playoff loss in the first round that, while dispiriting, leaves hope that maybe next year could be even better. Whether it was RG3’s rookie year supernova or the 2012 Nats season — Bryce Harper’s rookie year — that follow-up glory hasn’t always materialized. Can Wayne Rooney and United build on their magical run last year to deliver something even greater in 2019?
(AP Photo/Nick Wass)
AP Photo/Nick Wass
Will the Wizards blow it all up?
With John Wall headed for yet another knee surgery, an already bleak Wizards season seems beyond salvaging. But as Wall’s contract is set to bloom into a supermax next year, and with the team seemingly unwilling to trade its most movable contract in Bradley Beal to this point, there simply won’t be the kind of financial flexibility needed to improve. So where does that leave the team? Can they find some low-cost diamonds in the rough? Will they accept that they may not get full value in return, but find a way to unload their albatross contracts to give themselves a chance to start over?
(AP Photo/Michael Dwyer)
AP Photo/Michael Dwyer
Will professional golf return to the D.C. area?
The Quicken Loans National is dead; long live the Quicken Loans National. A number of factors conspired to result in the District losing its own annual stop on the PGA Tour. But could that be a good thing in the long run? Playing in the heat of summer was never ideal in the mid-Atlantic, but the PGA calendar is pretty full, at least for now. Could a local course and sponsor find a way to pry a spring or fall event from another market in the next couple years, giving the area a more sustainable tournament in the future?
(AP Photo/Nick Wass)
AP Photo/Nick Wass
Do the Caps have another run in them?
After winning a title, it’s often hard for a team to keep the band together. Yet, that’s exactly what the Washington Capitals made their priority this offseason. Rather than try to retool for some nebulous future, instead they shelled out big money to re-sign John Carlson and Tom Wilson, with lesser deals for Michal Kempny, Devante Smith-Pelley and others, returning 18 of the 19 players on the ice in their Game 5 Stanley Cup Finals-clinching win. Can that squad produce the same championship result and go back-to-back?
(AP Photo/Nick Wass)
AP Photo/Nick Wass
Will anyone want to pay for a new football stadium?
NFL stadiums have been shown to be the biggest financial wastes among sports venues, hosting just eight regular season games a year without offering the versatility for other events the way basketball/hockey arenas do. And despite a late (failed) push to clear space at the RFK site through government backchannels, there doesn’t appear to be much popular support for a new public stadium for Dan Snyder and Co. With the cheerleading Terry McAuliffe no longer in office in Virginia, that leaves Governor Larry Hogan’s National Harbor ideas as perhaps the only viable alternative, though even that faces backlash. What happens if nobody wants the team?
(AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)
