After 28 years, three name changes, a pair of WNBA All-Star games, one Stanley Cup championship, and a new all-time leading goal scorer in Alex Ovechkin, Capital One Arena in downtown DC is giving fans something else to cheer about with an $800 million renovation.
Monumental Sports and Entertainment (MSE), which owns the arena and two of its marquee teams, the NHL’s Washington Capitals and the NBA’s Washington Wizards, is approaching the three-year project as if it were building a new venue from the hardwood up. The goal is to turn the arena, nestled in the heart of Chinatown, into a year-round entertainment destination.
It’s a monumental project, so MSE tapped a deep bench of Kogod School of Business students to help with the work.
About 120 seniors across five sections of Kogod’s Strategic Management capstone class—the culmination of their undergraduate academic experience—spent the spring semester working with MSE to facilitate communication with key stakeholders.
Eagles conducted in-depth interviews with season ticket holders, local business owners, community residents, and government officials about their concerns—from traffic and transportation issues to the renovation’s environmental impact—and how they preferred to receive updates about the project. Students, many of whom are members of the AU Sports Business Association, also surveyed 250 fans before a Wizards game and got a behind-the-scenes tour of the arena, which included a special appearance by Athletic editor in chief David Aldrige, CAS-SOC/BA ’87.
Students presented their findings to members of the MSE team at the end of the semester.
Matt Winkler, SOC/MA ’00, director of the Office of Graduate and Professional Studies’ sports analytics and management program and a longtime sports executive, helped forge the partnership between AU and MSE, his former employer.
“I don’t know if a team’s ever given direct access to season ticket holders and fans [to students],” says Winkler, who worked in sales for both the Capitals and the WNBA’s Washington Mystics. “That tells you how much trust they’re putting in AU.”
In addition to hands-on experience that will aid them in their job searches, students also got “a sense of legacy” from the project, which is expected to have an economic impact of more than $1 billion.
“They’ll be able to watch a game at Capital One Arena 10 years from now and say, ‘Hey, we did a big project on that when I was a senior at AU,’” Winkler says. “Sports is all about legacy.”