"The Phone Booth" | |
Former names | MCI Center (1997–2006) |
---|---|
Location | 601 F Street Northwest Washington, D.C. 20004-1603 |
Coordinates | 38°53′53″N 77°1′15″W / 38.89806°N 77.02083°W |
Public transit | Gallery Place |
Owner | Monumental Sports and Entertainment |
Operator | Monumental Sports and Entertainment |
Capacity | Basketball: 20,674 (1997-2002) 20,173 (2002-2010) 20,278 (2010-2011) 20,282 (2011-2012) 20,308 (2012-2013) 20,356 (2013-present) Ice hockey: 19,740 (1997-1999) 18,672 (1999-2002) 18,277 (2002-2010) 18,398 (2010-2011) 18,506 (2011-present)[6] |
Field size | 1,020,000 square feet (95,000 m2) |
Construction | |
Broke ground | October 18, 1995 |
Opened | December 2, 1997 |
Construction cost | $260 million ($493 million in 2024 dollars[1]) |
Architect | Ellerbe Becket[2] Devrouax & Purnell[2] KCF-SHG Architects[2] |
Project manager | Seagull Bay Sports, LLC.[4] |
Structural engineer | Delon Hampton & Associates[3] |
Services engineer | John J. Christie Associates[2] |
General contractor | Clark/Smoot[5] |
Tenants | |
Washington Wizards (NBA) (1997–present) Washington Capitals (NHL) (1997–present) Washington Mystics (WNBA) (1998–present) Georgetown Hoyas (NCAA) (1997–present) Washington Power (NLL) (2001–2002) |
The Verizon Center, formerly known as the MCI Center, is a sports and entertainment arena in Washington, D.C.
Named after its sponsor, the telecommunications company Verizon Communications, the Verizon Center has been nicknamed the "Phone Booth" by local fans, because of its historical association with various telecommunications companies, such as MCI Inc. Located in the Chinatown neighborhood of Washington, D.C., the Verizon Center sits atop the Gallery Place rapid transit station of the Washington Metro.
The Verizon Center is home to the Washington Wizards of the National Basketball Association, Washington Capitals of the National Hockey League, the Georgetown University men's basketball team, the Washington Mystics of the Women's National Basketball Association, the Washington International Horse Show, and was formerly the home of the Washington Power of the National Lacrosse League from 2001 to 2002. The arena's seating capacity is 20,308 for basketball and 18,506 for hockey.[7]
The Verizon Center is owned by Monumental Sports & Entertainment, and is situated on top of land leased from the District of Columbia. The Verizon Center was built in the mid-1990s solely with private financing and was originally owned by Abe Pollin from 1997 to June 2010. On June 10, 2010, following Pollin's death in November 2009, the Pollin family sold Verizon Center, along with the Washington Wizards and the Washington-Baltimore area Ticketmaster franchise to Ted Leonsis, who already owned the arena's other tenant, the Washington Capitals professional hockey team. Leonsis subsequently formed a new management company called Monumental Sports & Entertainment. The Verizon Center is largely considered to be a commercial success and is regarded as one of the driving catalysts of the revitalization (and gentrification) of Washington, D.C.'s Chinatown neighborhood.[8]
The Verizon Center, located in the Washington, D.C. neighborhood of Chinatown, originally opened on December 2, 1997 as the MCI Center, named after its sponsor, MCI Inc. Nearly a decade later, in January 2006, Verizon Communications purchased MCI Inc., and the arena's name was changed accordingly.[8] The following year, in 2007, the "first true indoor high-definition LED scoreboard" was installed at the Verizon Center.[9] On December 2, 2007, the Verizon Center celebrated the ten year anniversary of its opening.[10] In Dec., 2013 all electronic communications to and from the scoreboard and advertising fasciae were updated by ColosseoEAS.[11]
Two notable fan fixtures at Washington Capitals games at Verizon Center since the late '90s include Goat and The Horn Guy. "Goat," aka William Stilwell, sits in Section 105 and loudly stomps and starts cheers for the team, with his loud voice that The Washington Post once called "the loudest voice and stompiest stomp on F Street." [38] "The Horn Guy," aka Sam Wolk, sits in section 415 and blows out three blasts on a horn to which the arena responds "Let's Go Caps!," a chant that can be heard during all radio and TV broadcasts.[39]
In August 2010 ESPN's Outside the lines reported that the Verizon Center was one of only two major sports arenas in the U.S, and the only in the NBA/NHL, in which 100% of food vendors were found with at least one "critical or major" health code violation. Violations included mice droppings in at least 10 different vending locations.[40][41]
When the arena opened there was concern [42] that it would lead to the displacement of Chinese businesses and culture [42] in the area that is the city's Chinatown. The surrounding area has indeed been dramatically gentrified, and most of the Chinese residents and businesses who lived and operated in the neighborhood when the arena first opened have been displaced because of the spike in real estate prices.[43] The Chinese population in Chinatown is a shroud of its former self - recent estimates hold that the number of Chinese in the neighborhood is down to around 400 to 500.[43] The Chinese-owned restaurants and businesses in the Chinatown area are largely gone and there has not been a full-service Chinese grocery in the neighborhood since 2005.[43] In their place, new residents and visitors to the area find an increasing number of mid-tier and upscale chains, such as Hooters, Fuddruckers and Legal Sea Foods.
In December 2007, then-Capitals captain Chris Clark gained a bit of press by stating that he believed the Verizon Center had the worst ice in the NHL. "There's a lot of ruts in the ice. It's soft. It's wet half the time. I could see a lot of injuries coming from the ice there. It could cost [players] their jobs...Even guys on other teams say the same thing. When we're facing off, they say, 'How do you guys play on this?'" Caps owner Ted Leonsis addressed this criticism directly.[44] The ice quality issue has been persistent both since the opening of Verizon Center and with the Capitals franchise in general.[45] Since Leonsis' acquisition of Verizon Center, the quality of the ice has gotten better and number of complaints has noticeably decreased. During playoff games, the arena installs a system to help remove hot air and humidity to maintain the ice conditions during warmer times of the year.
The "Washington Mystics Attendance Champions" banners that hung at the Verizon Center had been the focal point of much criticism over the years, with many people believing that the rafters should be reserved for achievements by sports teams and not by the fans. Critics thought it was insulting to have banners for championships and retired numbers hang next to "attendance champion" banners. Originally there were six banners (1998, 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, and 2004); the number was later reduced to three in 2007 (for the first two seasons plus 2002, the only season in which the Mystics have won a playoff series to date) with the other three removed to make way for a banner honoring Final Four appearances by the Georgetown Hoyas.
The Washington City Paper had called them "embarrassing",[46] a 2005 ESPN.com article by Todd Wright commented, "it's time to lose those Mystics attendance banners hanging from the rafters";[47] the Sports Road Trip website mocked the banners by stating "Oh... Mystics... WNBA 'attendance champions' in '98 and '99. Wheeeee!"[48]
When Washington Post writer Jon Gallo was asked about the banners, he stated "The attendance banners were largely achieved because the Mystics gave away approximately 30 percent of their tickets before Sheila Johnson took over the team. If the Mystics had made everyone pay for a ticket, then they would not have had the best attendance in the league."[49]
In the 2009 season, the Mystics once again led the WNBA in attendance at 11,338 per game;[50] however, in an entry on his blog earlier that season, Ted Leonsis, whose Lincoln Holdings owns the Mystics, had promised that there will be no attendance banner for 2009 should the Mystics conclude the season with the attendance lead.[51]
On Leonsis' authorization, the final remaining attendance banners were removed from the Verizon Center rafters in 2010.[52]
On January 11, 2014 an NBA game at the Verizon Center between the Washington Wizards and the Houston Rockets was delayed a total of 57 minutes because a leak in the roof had made its way to center court. The first delay was 35 minutes, and occurred early in the 2nd quarter, and the 2nd delay was 22 minutes, and occurred at the beginning of the 2nd half.[53] Verizon Center staff hung a tarp from the ceiling to temporarily stop the leak from getting onto the court.[54] The game was 3 hours and 18 minutes long, including stoppages.[53]