Report: Capitals, Wizards eyeing move to Northern Virginia?

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In this photograph taken with a fisheye lens, the exterior view of Capital One Arena is seen, Saturday, March 16, 2019, in Washington. (AP Photo/Nick Wass)(AP/Nick Wass/File)

This article was written by WTOP’s news partner InsideNoVa.com and republished with permission. Sign up for InsideNoVa.com’s free email subscription today.

The owners of the Washington Capitals and Washington Wizards have talked with Virginia officials about moving the teams to Northern Virginia, according to a report Friday by the Washington Post.

The Post said that representatives from Monumental Sports & Entertainment, which owns the Capitals, Wizards and Washington Mystics, have had preliminary and exploratory talks regarding a possible arena site near Amazon’s new HQ2 development in the National Landing area of Arlington. 

The NHL, NBA and WNBA teams currently play at Capital One Arena in downtown Washington, which opened in 1997.  The arena is owned by Ted Leonsis, Monumental’s founder and CEO. 

The Post said that Leonsis and other team executives have also been meeting with Washington city officials regarding the need to improve the arena and who would pay for it. 

Amazon officially opened the first phase of its HQ2 development earlier in June. The project, announced in 2018, is eventually expected to bring 25,000 employees to National Landing.

Meanwhile, in other Washington professional sports news, the Associated Press reported that NFL owners are expected to meet July 20 to vote on the sale of the Washington Commanders to a group led by Josh Harris.

If the deal is approved, as expected, among the new ownership team’s first tasks will be to find a new site for the Commanders stadium to replace FedEx Field in Landover, Md. Two sites in Northern Virginia have been mentioned as possibilities — one in Sterling and one in Woodbridge. The team is based in Ashburn, in Loudoun County.

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