RealGM

Verizon Center / ESPN Report
July 26th, 2010

I was surprised and disappointed by ESPN’s recent industry-wide report and ratings related to the cleanliness of professional sports venues, including Verizon Center. Since we acquired Verizon Center from Washington Sports and Entertainment six weeks ago, we have been planning and making improvements. Please be assured that we take the complaints of our customers extremely seriously, and quality and cleanliness are paramount.

We remain in the early stages of our evaluation process, and the ESPN report touched on some of the elements we have been examining and will be vigilant in improving. We will redouble our efforts immediately and review all facets of the issues identified. Once we have the facts, we will embark on remedies.

From what I understand, the ESPN report stems from incidents in 2009. These professional inspections are conducted several times throughout the year, are unannounced and are public record. When and if issues arise, we will take appropriate action, and from what I understand we have done exactly that in the past.

Aramark and Levy are our concessionaires at the arena. We have had a good relationship with both of them throughout the years, and we count on them to maintain a clean, safe, courteous and responsible service environment for our customers. Aramark recently launched a website to demonstrate and highlight their continued commitment to food safety, www.aramarkqualityfood.com.

The past couple of weeks I have talked about my plan to walk a mile in our employees’ footsteps and participate in the cleaning process. I now will step up those efforts and make this a top priority. I will personally get involved in the process and the solutions. We are on it; we’ve already started. We will move this issue from one that appears shocking to one that is a source of pride. I promise.

Tags: ESPN, Ted Leonsis, Ted's Take, Verizon Center

Chocolate City Jordanaire wrote:

These guys work at Verizon Center.

There seems to be some concern about this happening to all who watch games at VC.

pancakes3 wrote:story regarding party john i heard over the weekend.

a kid who goes to tech said that the saturday after thanksgiving break a few years back when PJR was playing in roanoke walked up to him with his posse at Toys R Us and asked if they were VT students. He said yes. PJR asked if there were any girls around. My friend said not really since it was Thanksgiving holiday. Then one of PJR's friends said "yo, that's straight. that just means the girls who ARE here gots sh*tty homes. game on son son."

Also, PJr was looking at children's trikes so maybe he might have had a green card baby in SW Va.

leswizards wrote:Are they sure it was mice poop? Maybe it was another one of those Gilbert Arenas practical jokes.

Krizko Zero wrote:

leswizards wrote:Are they sure it was mice poop? Maybe it was another one of those Gilbert Arenas practical jokes.

This just isn't funny anymore, try harder.

Benjammin wrote:Hey now, let's not quibble with perfection, in whatever form it takes...

fishercob wrote:Ted's reply:

Verizon Center / ESPN Report
July 26th, 2010

I was surprised and disappointed by ESPN’s recent industry-wide report and ratings related to the cleanliness of professional sports venues, including Verizon Center. Since we acquired Verizon Center from Washington Sports and Entertainment six weeks ago, we have been planning and making improvements. Please be assured that we take the complaints of our customers extremely seriously, and quality and cleanliness are paramount.

We remain in the early stages of our evaluation process, and the ESPN report touched on some of the elements we have been examining and will be vigilant in improving. We will redouble our efforts immediately and review all facets of the issues identified. Once we have the facts, we will embark on remedies.

From what I understand, the ESPN report stems from incidents in 2009. These professional inspections are conducted several times throughout the year, are unannounced and are public record. When and if issues arise, we will take appropriate action, and from what I understand we have done exactly that in the past.

Aramark and Levy are our concessionaires at the arena. We have had a good relationship with both of them throughout the years, and we count on them to maintain a clean, safe, courteous and responsible service environment for our customers. Aramark recently launched a website to demonstrate and highlight their continued commitment to food safety, http://www.aramarkqualityfood.com.

The past couple of weeks I have talked about my plan to walk a mile in our employees’ footsteps and participate in the cleaning process. I now will step up those efforts and make this a top priority. I will personally get involved in the process and the solutions. We are on it; we’ve already started. We will move this issue from one that appears shocking to one that is a source of pride. I promise.

Tags: ESPN, Ted Leonsis, Ted's Take, Verizon Center

Yep.