Monumental Sports and Entertainment

 With a recent announcement from Capitals Majority owner Ted Leonsis that Capital One Arena will be undergoing renovations over the offseason, and the updated season ticket prices announced by the Capitals for next season, NoVa Caps’ very own Lisa Desabrais, a Capitals season ticket holder herself, gives her thoughts on the recent developments.

I’m sure by now most everyone has read about the proposed updates happening to Capital One Arena this summer. Here are a few of my thoughts as a season ticket holder:

• Any upgrade to the sound system is a definite improvement over the current one. I have yet to be able to understand anything that is being said during the games from our seats in Section 217.
• I have been told that food choices will be a big
  improvement over what is being currently offered as well as improved in-game entertainment.

What I am currently unhappy about as a season ticket holder is that our seat prices are going up $8.00 per seat, an 8% increase over last year’s price. That might not seem like much, but factor in that it is 41 home games and the total cost is over $650.00. As a “bonus”, our seats are now being given an $150.00 credit towards food in the arena (it cannot be used for team merchandise). While this helps offset the cost somewhat, for us it’s currently not an incentive because as I stated above, the current food choices (and pricing for that matter) are sub-par, in our opinion. As it stands now, we have trouble selling our seats in the few instances we have had to sell them) without taking a huge hit price-wise. There have even been instances where we haven’t been able to sell them at all. I understand being able to re-sell our tickets for at least what we pay for them is our issue, but an issue nonetheless when deciding whether or not to renew for another year.

I might add that after the first year of buying playoff tickets, we have decided that although we support the team no matter the outcome, our angst is better suited to watch from home with a vodka tonic and cranberry (or two). A lot of time and effort is being put forth to put people in seats for the season; I also believe just as much effort needs to be made to keep the ones filled by current season ticket holders. Going forward, changes in pricing, incentives, and improvements at Capital One Arena will factor into whether or not we renew past the 2018-2019 season. One thing that won’t change is our support for the team, whether in person or from the comfort of our couch.

One last thought: I’ve seen so much negativity on social media with regards to teams and their players. One thing I saw that I feel bears repeating is hate the play, not the player. For the most part I try to keep this attitude, unless…you’re Dustin Byfuglien, who should be given more than a fine for what he did to Jay Beagle.

By Lisa Desabrais