Prospective Capitals co-Owners Ted Leonsis and Jon
Ledecky are interviewed in today's WASHINGTON POST and say
that they're "more prepared and more qualified to own" the
team than anybody. Leonsis: "We're going to take a
different look at (the business). The value isn't in the
building; the value is in the teams. They're the content
and where the cash is." Leonsis described his purchase of
the Capitals and minority shares of the Wizards and MCI
Center as "division of labor," saying that he would focus on
the Capitals' "broken relationship with the fans," while
Washington Sports & Entertainment (WSE) Owner Abe Pollin,
WSE President Susan O'Malley and Wizards GM Wes Unseld "can
work on the Wizards, the MCI Center [and] everything else."
Leonsis: "My bet is before (Pollin) hires a coach [for the
Wizards], he'll at least call us. If he doesn't, I'm fine
with that. And I mean that, I'm fine with that. Our day
will come." Leonsis said he is examining the ticketing
business: "Now there's probably a million good reasons why
ticketing hasn't changed in a long time and why it isn't
done the way airlines do it. But I don't understand why
ticketing isn't more creative." Leonsis wants to "be
appointed the Internet czar of the NHL and then the NBA. My
goal would be to sell the Internet rights to the hockey
teams one day for a lot of money. And you laugh, right?
That's what they thought about TV" (WASHINGTON POST, 5/17).
TEAMS A TOUGH SELL FOR POLLIN: In Sunday's WASHINGTON
POST, Farhi & Vise examined the team's sale in a front-page
feature. Pollin's son, Robert, "played a key behind-the-
scenes role by engaging in a long-running e-mail
conversation" with Leonsis leading up to the sale. Leonsis
"learned" through the e-mails that Pollin wasn't just about
money and wanted "respect, loyalty and the reassurance that
when it was all over he would still be in charge" of his
sports empire (WASHINGTON POST, 5/16).
