Capital One Arena

• 1. Introduction

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  Capital One Arena opened its doors on the 2nd of December 1997, and President Bill Clinton walked straight into the museum inside. He was there for the first event, a basketball game between the Washington Wizards and the Seattle SuperSonics. Before tip-off, Clinton toured the MCI National Sports Gallery, an interactive museum featuring sports memorabilia, the American Sportscasters Hall of Fame, and games the president stopped to play.

  The building was called the MCI Center at the time, named after MCI Communications, which had purchased the naming rights. Its backers had planned it as more than a sports venue. They envisioned daily foot traffic, a shopping destination, and a civic anchor for a downtown block that had spent decades as a failed development site. A 25,000-square-foot Discovery Channel Store opened inside the building in 1998.

  The arena stands in Washington's Penn Quarter neighborhood, directly above the Gallery Place Metro station. The block outside was eventually declared Abe Pollin Way in 2007, named for the man who built the arena against considerable odds.

• 2. The Deal That Built It

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  In December 1993, Abe Pollin owned both the Washington Capitals and the Washington Bullets and was searching for a new arena. Both teams were playing at USAir Arena in Landover, Maryland, a suburban venue that was inconvenient for fans from Washington and Baltimore alike. The arena, though only about 20 years old at the time, had fallen behind the standards of newer NBA and NHL facilities.

  The block between 6th and 7th and F and G Streets had already been purchased by the District government in 1973. The Gallery Place Metro station was being built below the surface at the time. In 1979, Capital Landmark Associates was chosen to develop the site as a mixed-use complex. Plans called for retail, offices, apartments, and a hotel. Most of the remaining buildings were knocked down in 1985. The project never materialized and was formally canceled in 1992.

  A $150 million offer from the District launched the arena deal: the city would cover the full construction cost. Washington business leaders had brokered the arrangement that linked Pollin to the Gallery Place site. A rival proposal then emerged from Robert Johnson, the head of Black Entertainment Television, who offered to build the arena largely with private money. With the original deal drawing criticism amid a District budget crisis, Pollin stepped in and agreed to self-fund the construction. The building ultimately cost $200 million. The District contributed a separate $79 million for land purchase, site preparation, and expanding the Metro station below. It leased the ground to Pollin at $300,000 per year.

  The groundbreaking took place in October 1995. The design placed seats vertically rather than spreading them outward, giving most spectators better sightlines, though legroom in the upper levels was limited.

• 3. Chinatown Displaced

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  More than 3,000 Chinese-American residents lived in the Chinatown neighborhood before the arena was built. The spike in real estate prices that followed pushed most of them out. By 2023, only around 300 remained.

  By 2011, estimates put the Chinese-American population in the neighborhood at between 400 and 500 people. The restaurants and businesses that had sustained that community were largely gone. No full-service Chinese grocery had operated in the neighborhood since 2005.

  The pattern drew national attention in 2023 when a stadium was proposed for Philadelphia's Chinatown. Community groups opposing the Philadelphia project pointed to the Washington case as a precedent. The Philadelphia proposal was eventually canceled following significant community backlash.

• 4. Championship Ice

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  The Washington Capitals have played at Capital One Arena since the building opened. Some of the franchise's most significant moments have occurred on its ice. On the 16th of June 1998, the Detroit Red Wings raised the Stanley Cup inside the arena. They had won game four of the Stanley Cup Final there by a score of 4-1, completing a sweep of the Capitals.

  On the 4th of May 2009, a playoff game between the Capitals and the Pittsburgh Penguins produced dueling hat tricks. Alex Ovechkin of Washington and Sidney Crosby of Pittsburgh each scored three goals in the same game. David Steckel added a fourth goal for Washington, and the Capitals won 4-3.

  Games three and four of the 2018 Stanley Cup Final were hosted at the arena. Washington won both home games, then traveled to Las Vegas and won game five to claim the Cup. It was the first major sports championship for a Washington, D.C. team since the 1991 Washington Redskins. The Capitals held their championship banner ceremony at the arena on the 3rd of October 2018, before the first game of the new season.

  On the 4th of April 2025, Wayne Gretzky and NHL commissioner Gary Bettman were in the stands as the Capitals beat the Chicago Blackhawks 5-3. Ovechkin scored goals 893 and 894 that night, tying Gretzky for the all-time NHL goals record. On the 18th of January 2026, the arena hosted its first Professional Women's Hockey League game. The New York Sirens beat the Montreal Victoire 2-1 in front of 17,228 fans. It was an attendance record for women's hockey in the United States.

• 5. A Broader Stage

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  The 2001 NBA All-Star Game was played at Capital One Arena, as were the 2002 and 2007 WNBA All-Star Games. The arena has hosted the NCAA basketball tournament several times, serving as the regional round venue in 2006, 2013, 2019, and 2026. In 2006, the George Mason Patriots from Fairfax, Virginia advanced to the Final Four with wins in the regional rounds played there. The 2003 World Figure Skating Championships were also held at the arena.

  Mike Tyson fought Kevin McBride in his final non-exhibition fight at the arena on the 11th of June 2005. Combat sports returned in 2011 and again in 2019, with UFC events on both occasions. In professional wrestling, the arena hosted the final four editions of WCW's Starrcade pay-per-view. It has since staged multiple WWE events, including SummerSlam in 2005 and Survivor Series in 2009. On the 2nd of October 2019, the first episode of Dynamite, the debut weekly series of All Elite Wrestling, was broadcast from the arena. On the 13th of December 2025, John Cena competed in his final professional match at the arena. The event was WWE's Saturday Night's Main Event XLII, closing a 26-year career.

  Musical acts at Capital One Arena have included Beyonce, Paul McCartney, Taylor Swift, Prince, Madonna, U2, Lady Gaga, and Barbra Streisand. The Washington International Horse Show ran at the venue every October for more than 20 years, ending with the 2019 edition. The Harlem Globetrotters also perform there annually, against the Washington Generals, a team named in honor of President Dwight Eisenhower.

  Donald Trump held a pre-inauguration rally at the arena the day before his second inauguration. The indoor parade marking that inauguration took place there on the 20th of January 2025.

• 6. Names, Owners, and the Future

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  Verizon Communications purchased MCI in January 2006, and the arena was renamed Verizon Center. The following year, in 2007, the arena installed what was described at the time as the first true indoor high-definition LED scoreboard.

  In 1999, Ted Leonsis, a technology executive, led a group that bought a 36% stake in Abe Pollin's holdings. The stake covered the arena and full ownership of the Capitals. The Leonsis group increased its share to 44% in 2000. Pollin died in November 2009. The following June, Leonsis's group, reorganized as Monumental Sports and Entertainment, bought out the remaining Pollin interests. Monumental took full ownership of both the arena and the Wizards.

  In December 2007, Capitals captain Chris Clark stated that he believed the arena had the worst ice in the NHL. He described the surface as rutted, soft, and frequently wet, and said that players from opposing teams voiced the same complaint during face-offs. Capitals owner Ted Leonsis addressed the criticism directly. The problem proved persistent; during warm-weather playoff months, the arena has installed portable refrigeration units outside the building to help maintain ice conditions.

  On the 9th of August 2017, the arena was renamed Capital One Arena. Capital One bank, headquartered in Tysons, Virginia, had purchased the naming rights. A report from 2015 had suggested Verizon would not renew its agreement, which was due to expire in 2018. In the weeks before the Capital One announcement, Etihad Airways had signed on as the official airline. Etihad was widely considered a front-runner for the naming rights.

  In 2019 and 2020, Monumental Sports undertook a $30 million renovation. The project replaced all of the arena's seating, updated the concourse, and added new dining options. A new overhead video board and a SkyRing display that encircles the top of the arena were also installed. In July 2020, William Hill opened a sportsbook inside the building. It was the first brick-and-mortar sportsbook at a professional sports venue in the United States, following Washington's legalization of sports betting in 2018.

  In June 2023, reports emerged that Monumental Sports was considering relocating the Capitals and Wizards to a new arena in Northern Virginia. A plan announced in December 2023 targeted the Potomac Yard area of Alexandria. That plan was scrapped in March 2024. Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser then announced a deal with Ted Leonsis to keep both teams in the District at least until 2050. The deal triggered a renovation now underway, budgeted at $850 million total. The District of Columbia is contributing $515 million; Monumental Sports and Entertainment is covering the rest. Construction is proceeding in six phases and is expected to be finished by the start of the 2027-2028 NHL and NBA seasons.