Current:Home > NewsDC attorney general argues NHL’s Capitals, NBA’s Wizards must play in Washington through 2047 -ValueMetric
DC attorney general argues NHL’s Capitals, NBA’s Wizards must play in Washington through 2047
View
Date:2025-04-16 08:27:00
WASHINGTON (AP) — The attorney general for the District of Columbia contends that the NBA’s Washington Wizards and NHL’s Washington Capitals are obligated to play their games in the downtown arena through 2047, the city’s latest salvo to keep the teams from leaving.
In a letter Brian Schwalb wrote this week to Monumental Sports and Entertainment that was obtained by The Associated Press on Friday, Schwalb cited a 2007 bond agreement for renovations that extended the teams’ lease for 20 more years beyond the initial timeframe through 2027.
The letter comes as Monumental’s $2 billion plan for a new arena across the Potomac River in Alexandria has stalled in the Virginia legislature.
Schwalb said D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser’s $500 million offer to renovate Capital One Arena still stands. Bowser in an op-ed piece in the Washington Post last month urged Monumental to consider that and said the city would enforce the lease terms if necessary.
“The District very much prefers not to pursue any potential claims against MSE,” Schwalb wrote in a letter dated Tuesday to Monumental general counsel Abby Blomstrom in response to one she sent to the city last month. “It remains committed to maintaining and growing its partnership with MSE and to keeping the Wizards and Capitals at the Arena until the end of the existing lease term in 2047, if not beyond. It is in that spirit that the District urges MSE to re-engage with District officials around a mutually beneficial arrangement that advances the long term interests of both the District and MSE.”
Monica Dixon, a top executive at Monumental, said Feb. 12 that the company was having “healthy discussions” with Virginia General Assembly leaders and Alexandria City Council members, who would also have to sign off on the Potomac Yard deal. A Monumental spokesperson referred to Dixon’s comments last month when reached Friday.
Since then, Virginia Democratic Sen. L. Louise Lucas used her perch as chair of the Finance and Appropriations Committee to keep the arena deal struck by Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin and Ted Leonsis, the head of Monumental, out of the state budget. That development doesn’t necessarily mean the end of the road for the plan, but it complicates the path forward.
“Why are we discussing an arena at Potomac Yard with the same organization that is breaking their agreement and commitments to Washington DC? ” Lucas wrote on social media. “Does anyone believe they wouldn’t do exactly the same thing to us?”
___
AP sports: https://apnews.com/sports
veryGood! (7)
Related
- A steeplechase record at the 2024 Paris Olympics. Then a proposal. (He said yes.)
- New Mexico governor issues emergency order to suspend open, concealed carry of guns in Albuquerque
- Residents mobilize in search of dozens missing after Nigeria boat accident. Death toll rises to 28
- Some authors will need to tell Amazon if their book used AI material
- Newly elected West Virginia lawmaker arrested and accused of making terroristic threats
- Google faces off with the Justice Department in antitrust showdown: Here’s everything we know
- Inside Shakira's Fierce New Chapter After Her Breakup With Gerald Piqué
- Ralph Lauren makes lavish NYFW comeback at show with JLo, Diane Keaton, Sofia Richie, more
- 'No Good Deed': Who's the killer in the Netflix comedy? And will there be a Season 2?
- History: Baltimore Ravens believe they are first NFL team with all-Black quarterback room
Ranking
- Juan Soto to be introduced by Mets at Citi Field after striking record $765 million, 15
- Mossad chief accuses Iran of plotting deadly attacks, vows to hit perpetrators ‘in heart’ of Tehran
- Guns n’ Roses forced to delay St. Louis concert after illness 30 years after 'Riverport Riot'
- Escaped murderer slips out of search area, changes appearance and tries to contact former co-workers
- Olympic women's basketball bracket: Schedule, results, Team USA's path to gold
- Dolphins' Tyreek Hill after 215-yard game vs. Chargers: 'I feel like nobody can guard me'
- Stock market today: Asian shares mostly higher as investors await US inflation, China economic data
- Ja'Marr Chase on trash talk after Bengals' loss to Browns: 'We just lost to some elves'
Recommendation
Megan Fox's ex Brian Austin Green tells Machine Gun Kelly to 'grow up'
A Pakistani soldier is killed in a shootout with militants near Afghanistan border, military says
UN envoy urges donor support for battered Syria facing an economic crisis
Protests kick off at Israeli justice minister’s home a day before major hearing on judicial overhaul
Oklahoma parole board recommends governor spare the life of man on death row
Spanish soccer president Luis Rubiales resigns after nonconsensual kiss at Women’s World Cup final
1 year after Queen Elizabeth's death and King Charles' ascension, how has Britain's monarchy fared?
Israeli delegation attends UN heritage conference in Saudi Arabia in first public visit by officials