Capital One Arena could host as many as three games in the Stanley Cup Finalgetty images
The Capitals' advancement to the Stanley Cup Final for the first time since '98 means Capital One Arena is guaranteed to host at least two games, and it "looks increasingly like" the Virginia-based bank's timing "could not have been better" when it struck a 10-year, $100M naming-rights deal last August, according to Andy Medici of the WASHINGTON BUSINESS JOURNAL. The higher profile is "definitely a win" for Capital One, "relatively soon after it inked the naming-rights deal." Capital One Arena "could host as many as three games, depending on how long the series goes." George Washington Univ. professor of sports management Lisa Delpy Neirotti said that the exposure will also "help Capital One shift the arena's brand away from the longstanding Verizon Center moniker that has become ingrained in the minds of people across Greater Washington." Neirotti: "Nobody is going to wake up one day and realize that Capital One is the naming-rights holder. This is just going to be more exposure for them and it will help us all remember and keep it in our heads that they have the naming rights." Medici notes the publicity that results from the "countless mentions in news articles, television coverage and by fans shows exactly what a good naming-rights deal can do for a company -- even one as widely advertised as Capital One" (WASHINGTON BUSINESS JOURNAL, 5/25 issue).
