After five seasons of indoor tennis at George Washington’s Charles E. Smith Center, the World TeamTennis Washington Kastles are "migrating again," this time to the roof of Union Market in DC, according to Ava Wallace of the WASHINGTON POST. Edens, the company that owns and developed Union Market, is "constructing a specially designed rooftop venue to host seven home matches from July 15 to 27." The stadium’s 700-seat capacity is a "downsize for the Kastles -- who played in venues with capacities ranging from 2,200 to 3,500 in previous seasons -- but it will retain luxury seating options, including VIP dinner tables and courtside boxes." Kastles Owner Mark Ein said that the benefits of the smaller venue "lie in the fan experience." Spectators will be able to "drink and dine at Union Market’s food vendors downstairs, and fans will sit closer to the action than they did at Smith Center." Ein said, “The biggest downside of doing it here is how many fewer people that are going to be able to come, but I think for the people who are here, it’s going to be electric because it’s just going to be that intimate." The Union Market venue will be the Kastles’ fourth home since their inaugural season in '08. Ein: “We think this is our new home, we’re putting a reasonably big investment to make this work, and the hope is that we’re going to be able to be here for a long time" (WASHINGTON POST, 4/12).
