Ted Leonsis continues to grow vision for Monumental Sports & Entertainment

Monumental Sports & Entertainment founder & CEO Ted Leonsis is “throwing everything he can at his vision for Monumental Sports,” which at the moment includes “more teams, more visibility, more engagement and, at the nexus, a dazzling renovation plan” for the Capital One Arena that will serve as home base through at least 2050, according to a front-page piece by Rick Maese of the WASHINGTON POST. Leonsis is “certain his sprawling organization is on the right track.” Still, he was “caught off guard” when the proposal to relocate to Alexandria, Va., “upset so many.” Leonsis said, “I was honestly — still am — taken back that the three miles was, ‘You’re a traitor.’ But I have to listen to that.” Leonsis said it “hurt him a lot personally” and for “such a good people person, I really misjudged a lot of that.” Despite all the talk, Leonsis said, “You almost have to remind yourself once in a while, no, we’ve actually been pretty good.” Leonsis: “Even the Wizards, as bad as I think we’ve performed, we’re not the worst franchise. We made the playoffs four of the past 10 years. The Caps have made the playoffs, in the past 25 years, the second- or third-most [times] in the league.” Maese noted Leonsis also sees Monumental growing in “several directions.” He lately has been “figuring out ways to invest more in women’s sports, maybe a professional volleyball team or a women’s hockey team.” His “biggest fish” is the Nationals, which could “provide year-round programming for his network and make him unique among pro sports owners.” But Leonsis said he is “being very respectful” to the Lerner family as to whether they want to sell the team (WASHINGTON POST, 10/25).