Apropos of nothing ... or maybe not
Posted: Fri Jun 22, 2012 4:24 am
Leonsis went before the DC City Council yesterday to make the case for increased signage to the outside of Verizon Center. Included in his remarks was this:
“It’s important to note that, unlike most major cities, the Verizon Center (or the MCI Center as it was then known) was built almost entirely with private funds. Today, nearly 15 years after the Verizon Center opened, we carry more than $125 million of debt related to the construction of the facility. When you add this to the cost and expense of operating the facility, and our three teams, it’s a substantial financial burden.
“Quite frankly, it puts us at a competitive disadvantage with many other teams in the NHL, the NBA and the WNBA. We compete with teams in other large markets who do not have the burden of paying for their buildings, such as those buildings in Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and New Jersey. That means we have less money to spend on our teams. Because of that, we work very hard to identify new sources of revenue, and one of those is the reason for my testimony today."
I had thought we were getting one of these new breed dot-com guys. Cuban 2.0
Evidently not.
“It’s important to note that, unlike most major cities, the Verizon Center (or the MCI Center as it was then known) was built almost entirely with private funds. Today, nearly 15 years after the Verizon Center opened, we carry more than $125 million of debt related to the construction of the facility. When you add this to the cost and expense of operating the facility, and our three teams, it’s a substantial financial burden.
“Quite frankly, it puts us at a competitive disadvantage with many other teams in the NHL, the NBA and the WNBA. We compete with teams in other large markets who do not have the burden of paying for their buildings, such as those buildings in Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and New Jersey. That means we have less money to spend on our teams. Because of that, we work very hard to identify new sources of revenue, and one of those is the reason for my testimony today."
I had thought we were getting one of these new breed dot-com guys. Cuban 2.0
Evidently not.
