Short answers, pulled from the story.
Capital One Arena opened on the 2nd of December 1997 under the name MCI Center, named after MCI Communications, which purchased the naming rights. It was renamed Verizon Center in 2006 and became Capital One Arena in 2017.
Capital One Arena is owned and operated by Monumental Sports and Entertainment, led by Ted Leonsis. Leonsis first bought a 36% stake in the arena in 1999 and gained full ownership in June 2010, following the death of original owner Abe Pollin.
The arena's construction and the resulting rise in real estate prices severely reduced Washington's Chinese-American community. More than 3,000 Chinese-American residents lived in the neighborhood before the arena was built; by 2023, that number had fallen to around 300. The neighborhood has had no full-service Chinese grocery since 2005.
Capital One Arena hosted games three and four of both the 1998 and 2018 Stanley Cup Finals. The Washington Capitals won the 2018 Cup, the first major championship for a Washington, D.C. team since the 1991 Washington Redskins. On the 4th of April 2025, Alex Ovechkin scored goals 893 and 894 at the arena, tying Wayne Gretzky's all-time NHL goals record.
The ongoing renovation of Capital One Arena is budgeted at $850 million total. The District of Columbia government is contributing $515 million, with Monumental Sports and Entertainment funding the rest. The project is expected to be completed by the start of the 2027-2028 NHL and NBA seasons.
In July 2020, William Hill opened a sportsbook at Capital One Arena, making it the first brick-and-mortar sports betting facility inside a professional sports venue in the United States. Washington had legalized sports betting in 2018.