The sports arena located in the heart of downtown Washington, D.C. has a new name now. Monumental Sports and Entertainment announced Wednesday morning that Verizon Center will now be called Capital One Arena. 

While the signage and branding makeover won’t be finished until the fall, there is already a new logo for the arena.

Photo: Monumental Sports

Capital One Arena is the third name for the building on 7th and F Street. The building opened as the MCI Center in 1997 and became the Verizon Center in 2006. The Verizon naming right’s deal was set to expire in 2018 but Capital One’s involvement had an influence in the sudden change.

With “the phone booth” no longer a nickname for the building, what will be the new nickname fans start calling it? The Capital Center? The ATM? Cap Arena? We will find out this fall.

FROM CAPITALS PRESS RELEASE:
Washington, D.C. — Monumental Sports and Entertainment (MSE) and Capital One today announced that Capital One will become the new naming rights partner for the arena in downtown Washington, which hosts over 220 concerts, shows and events a year, including the Washington Capitals, Washington Mystics, Washington Valor, Washington Wizards and Georgetown men’s basketball. The partnership of these two prominent local companies underscores their deep commitment to the continued economic growth and development of Washington, D.C. where they are both headquartered, and where Monumental employs 4,000 full and part-time employees and vendors. It also reinforces the unique position that Washington, D.C. holds and the role the D.C. market plays as a center for global influence and a platform for business-to-business and business-to-government connections, offering opportunities that can’t be replicated anywhere else. The arena will be called Capital One Arena beginning immediately, with the full signage and branding shift to occur in fall 2017.

By Michael Marzzacco
Follow @marswaggo

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