Washington arena unveils business suite for year-round use

Monumental Sports & Entertainment is opening a business suite in Washington's Capital One Arena that will be operational on a year-round basis.

The group that owns the NHL’s Capitals and NBA’s Wizards revealed the project Wednesday in conjunction with professional services company KPMG. The team and company hope the suite becomes a blueprint for other arenas around the U.S.

“This is a game changer for the future,” Monumental president of business operations and chief commercial officer Jim Van Stone told The Associated Press. “We’re taking up a facility space that was still operating for 200-plus events a year, three to four hours a day, and now they’re going to use it over 100 business days a year to develop business opportunities for them.”

KPMG managing partner Tim Gillis said he first considered the idea of using a suite year-round before the pandemic.

“That’s premium real estate, but it’s only used, you know, 10 or 20% of the time,” Gillis said. “So, maybe there’s a better way to use space like this. And I’m excited about the opportunity to do it.”

The suite was remodeled into what KPMG calls an “ignition center," which is designed to make presentations and solve business problems. It's expected to debut in July.

“This reinforces the notion that arenas play a central part in the business community’s ecosystem,” Monumental chairman Ted Leonsis said in a statement. “We are now creating a new real estate category of shared workspace: turning suites normally used a few hours per game day into workspace, all day and year-round.”

Sports marketing expert Bill Sutton said it’s time a business suite like this came to life and compared it to what PayPal and Verizon have with the Phoenix Suns at their game arena and practice facility.

“It’ll change the business model," Sutton said.

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