Leonsis owns the Washington Valor and Baltimore Brigade, who faced one another in the ArenaBowlAFL brigade
Monumental Sports & Entertainment Founder, Chair & CEO Ted Leonsis still "believes arena football will become one of the cornerstones of the next era of his sports business holdings," and that his properties will be a "family-friendly 'hothouse' of legal gambling and play-by-play fantasy sports," according to Jacob Bogage of the WASHINGTON POST. Leonsis, who owns both the Washington Valor and Baltimore Brigade, is "in the midst of a takeover of the Arena Football League, an organization that's spent nearly a decade on the brink of collapse." Leonsis said, "If we didn't step in, it probably would have died." Bogage noted the league adopted Leonsis' "suggestion for a new playoff format: a two-game, home-and-home series with the winner advancing based on aggregate scoring." The AFL also installed MS&E Exec VP & General Counsel Randall Boe, who has been Leonsis' colleague "dating back to their days as AOL executives," as its new commissioner. Leonsis also has been recruiting "prospective franchise owners" and hosted luxury brands company Shinola Detroit Founder Tom Kartsotis as a "personal guest at the Arena Bowl with the hopes of expanding the league" to Detroit. Leonsis is also "trying to convince Philadelphia franchise owners to start a second team in Atlantic City," as well as trying to get Cavaliers and Gladiators Owner Dan Gilbert to "play through arena renovations" at Quicken Loans Arena. Leonsis is "considering buying another franchise himself to put in Richmond." He said that the AFL is the "esports of football" and hopes the tempo, scoring and ticket prices are "more attractive to a younger audience" (WASHINGTON POST, 8/4).
