Ted Leonsis, owner and chairman of Monumental Sports and Entertainment (MSE), held a press conference on Friday afternoon with members of the local media, including FortyEightMinutes.com.
The Wizards are among the franchises owned under MSE (along with the NHL’s Washington Capitals, the WNBA’s Washington Mystics, and Capital City Go-Go), and while Leonsis was asked about the future of Scott Brooks as the head coach, he rightfully shifted the focus to the team’s remaining schedule and remaining goals.
“We have such an important game tonight [against the Cavs],” Leonsis told FortyEightMinutes and other local media via zoom.
“We want to win out; we want to win tonight and we want to win on Sunday. We’ll then get into the play-in and then we’ll see what happens going into our season. But our focus is to try to continue this upswing. We took a step back with the injury to Brad [Beal], but everyone in the organization is pleased that we’ve gotten this far. All of the focus is on just getting into that play-in.”
Leonsis says he was an advocate for the play-in tournament last year and remains and “unabashed fan” of it, stating that the event decentivizes tanking and gives more teams a chance to play in the NBA’s second season. Washington needs just one win over their last two games to clinch a spot in the play-in tournament.
Wizards remain an outlier in Leonsis-owned teams
The Wizards are behind the other franchises under Monumental Sports and Entertainment in terms of bringing championship rings to the organization. The Capitals (NHL) have one since Leonsis took over ownership. The Mystics (WNBA) won a championship as have Wizards District Gaming (NBA 2K League). Leonsis even has a ring from the Washington Valor of the now-defunct Arena Football League.
Leonsis said he has spoken with both Bradley Beal and Russell Westbrook about how he can put the Wizards in better position to win a title.
“We start every season with every one of our teams as we have to make the playoffs. If we can make the playoffs, then you can aspire to winning a championship,” Leonsis said when speaking about the teams under MSE.
Sports Betting to help offset pandemic-related losses?
It’s no secret that the NBA took a major hit on the business side with the COVID-19 pandemic canceling games and keeping fans out of the stands.
“Our business was cut in half, our goals were cut in half. This following year, even though we hope to play in front of 100% fans, we have to operate on what we call “Make Goods.” It’s been a dramatic financial pounding on organizations like us.”
While the NBA’s play-in tournament will help to offset losses, sports betting is another revenue stream that teams are investing in. Leonsis has been at the forefront of the legalization of sports betting over the past few years and Capital One Arena (home of the Wizards and Capitals) will have a sportsbook in their stadium, becoming the first to offer to fans at live games the chance to place once they are allowed back in the building.
“Our generation might have looked at gambling [as] just the term gambling is negative. Sports gaming to a young person has no negative connotations. I’ve been amazed at how quickly the stigma of gaming and gambling is draining away.”
