Monday afternoon was gray and dark and a little blustery, not weather that screams “Welcome to baseball season!” But the Washington Nationals had to open the home portion of their slate, and there is ceremony in that. So before a pitch was thrown or a swing was made, Muriel E. Bowser (D), the mayor of this fair city, stepped to a microphone to address a sellout crowd that belied both the atmospheric conditions and the home team’s prospects for the year.
“On behalf of 700,000 Washingtonians, welcome to the sports capital!” Bowser belted. “Let’s play ball!”
She can say that phrase — “sports capital” — with a smile now. What a difference a week makes.
“Do you know how long I’ve been saying that?” Bowser said later, outside a suite at Nationals Park. “For-ever.”
In some ways, the Nats’ home opener — an 8-4 loss to the unbeaten Pittsburgh Pirates in front of 40,405 — has nothing to do with the fact that Bowser last week struck a deal with Ted Leonsis, who owns the NHL’s Capitals and the NBA’s Wizards, to keep the teams at their downtown arena. But dang if that didn’t feel like a reset for sports in the nation’s capital.
Yes, the Nats are mid-rebuild, and there will be more days like Monday. But breathe easy, sports fans in the District. There is no longer a threat to move the teams to Alexandria, nor a hollow public relations campaign to try to convince people how much better it will be. (Side note: The next everyday fan I meet who was fully in favor of that plan will be the first. You?)
Anyway, order is restored. Now: What to do with it?
“We are a world-class city,” Bowser said. “Some people would say we’re the most important city in the world. And we believe that arts and entertainment and culture are a big part of who we are. We built the muscle to be able to handle big events.
“I was thinking to myself, like, Alexandrians, finally it occurred to them they’re just not built to deal with 20,000 people three or four nights a week. Why would they be, right? We are. And we have built the muscle to be able to manage great events. That’s part of it, but it’s also not a new focus.”
When she was introduced Monday, the mayor received almost exclusively cheers. Would that have been true at an athletic event if the Caps and Wizards were headed to Virginia?
Doesn’t matter. How this happened isn’t as important as the fact that it happened. So put behind the blame — the mayor and D.C. Council for not proactively working on a deal to keep the teams downtown, Leonsis for his wandering eye, Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R) for not greasing the skids in the legislature for his Alexandria plan, the Virginia legislature for dropping a ball it didn’t know would be handed to it — and concentrate on what matters, which is what’s next.
That can’t be about keeping Capital One Arena what it has been, which is a functional if middling multipurpose arena in a section of the city that it once helped revive but has since regressed. Some $800 million — $515 million of it provided by the District — ensures the arena, at least, will be brought up to date.
But go beyond that. Think big. Think boldly. How can downtown, with the arena as its anchor, be an absolute draw rather than a deterrent?
“They had 400,000 people come through the arena in March,” Bowser said. “That’s incredible.”
What a start. Now, to get them to come downtown on nights when the arena is dark, as they did a decade ago. And to get them to eat out before and after, to linger and love it because one pulsing, vibrant joint is around the corner from the next.
There’s no going back to the pre-pandemic days when all those offices were filled Monday through Friday, 9 to 5. So there must be creative ways to make downtown a destination again. Bowser’s administration has a plan to lure 15,000 residents into converted office space. Keep thinking that way. This isn’t just any section of any city. It’s four blocks north of the National Mall, vital for locals and tourists alike. In the months when it appeared the Capitals and Wizards were headed south, this opportunity appeared lost. It’s back. Jump on it.
But wait. This is baseball season. What does any of this have to do with the Nationals, now 1-3? Follow along.
The Capitals and Wizards staying put could have a trickledown — or trickle-across-town — effect on the Nats. Mark Lerner, the Nats’ managing principal owner, arrived at the ballpark early Monday wearing his bright red varsity jacket, proud as could be in the hours before he headed to his first-row seats.
Lerner said during spring training his family is no longer actively pursuing a sale of the team it has owned since 2006. But some people close to the process — which began in the spring of 2022 — read that statement thusly: The Lerners haven’t received an offer they find acceptable, and when someone meets their price, the team will be for sale in approximately one millisecond.
Remember, the most serious — perhaps the only serious — bidder for the Nats during this process was Leonsis. Because he is who he is — deep-pocketed, locally rooted — he is uniquely positioned to stay in touch and stoke the coals if they need stoking. Shoot, Mark Lerner is both a friend and minority partner in his business. Leonsis knows David Rubenstein, the private equity giant and D.C. philanthropist who just bought his hometown Baltimore Orioles, well enough that it’s reasonable to believe the MASN mess that has haunted the Nats for the entirety of their existence could be solved.
Might that potential development make the Nats worth more to Leonsis? Would seem so. Even before the flirtation with Virginia, his Monumental Sports and Entertainment put $80 million into the new on-site studios for its regional sports network at Capital One Arena. (I’m not sure MASN has spent $80 million on productions since it came into existence 20 seasons ago.) The idea of baseball as a summer’s worth of programming — with a demonstrably better broadcast product — has to have crossed Leonsis’s mind.
That’s the future, which is what should be exciting about Washington sports anyway. The Commanders have the second pick in the NFL draft, a choice that will be made by a real-life general manager who employs a modern, forward-thinking front office. Most of the best Nats of, say, 2026 haven’t yet played their first game at Nationals Park. And the Capitals and Wizards are staying in the District of Columbia, which never should have been a question in the first place.
The trick is making sure going back to the way things were is no longer the standard. Not in the standings, for sure. And not in the fan — and resident — experience, either.

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