Report: Verizon will end sponsorship of Wizards, Capitals arena
Verizon will not renew its naming rights deal with the Washington Wizards' and Capitals' home arena when it expires in 2018, Sports Business Journal's Terry Lefton reports.
The arena opened in 1997 as the MCI Center and was renamed Verizon Center when Verizon purchased MCI in 2006.
Monumental Sports, the company that owns the Wizards and Capitals, is seeking to sell the naming rights for $7 million annually on a 10- to 15-year deal, Lefton reports. By comparison, the Washington Nationals are said to be selling the naming rights to their stadium, Nationals Park, for $10 million per year.
Before moving to the Chinatown arena in 1997, the Wizards and Capitals played their home games at the Capital Centre in suburban Landover, Maryland.
Though the current deal does not expire until 2018, Lefton reports that a new sponsor could be found "quickly."
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