Ted Leonsis
Ted Leonsis
Theodore John Leonsisis an American businessman, investor, filmmaker, author, philanthropist, and former politician. He is a former senior executive with America Online. As the founder, chairman, and CEO of Monumental Sports & Entertainment, he is the majority owner of the National Hockey League's Washington Capitals, the National Basketball Association's Washington Wizards, the Women's National Basketball Association's Washington Mystics, the Arena Football League's Washington Valor and the Verizon Center in Washington, D.C. He is a founding member and investor in the...
certainly free gets help instantly magic players playing signings team trying wave
We'll look at free agency, but I'm still trying to find where big free-agent signings can help the team. There's certainly no magic wand to wave and the team gets instantly better, but I like the way we're playing and I like the way the players have responded to our coach.
anticipate expect help helping increase less locally overall prices reduction ticket tv
As a league, we will have less TV revenue, and locally I don't think we can expect to increase our ticket revenue. However, our ticket prices are going down even more. That price reduction may help attendance, but we don't anticipate it helping overall revenues.
help money spend
We need some help on the blueline and we have some money to spend there,
camp change core growing picks prospects stronger team
We have 20 first-round picks in camp and we will go through growing pains. But it will make the core team of prospects stronger and we won't change our strategy.
collective honest improve open plan until year
We have been honest and open about this plan and will improve year after year until we get to our collective goal.
alex amount excited experience gets good impact name share washington
We're excited to share the whole experience with him. Yes, it gets our name out internationally, but that's not the point. With this kid, whatever's good for Alex is good for the Washington Capitals. He's made that much of an impact in just this amount of time.
introduce
We want to introduce him to the city,
believed build buy community content enhances hockey internet package strengthen supply team
When you're young and you buy entertainment-oriented businesses, you do it so you can package them in a way that enhances their value. I've always believed that to build the Internet you build a community of interests. Then you supply content to strengthen the sense of community - and a hockey team is content.
allow next opportunity players year
We have to allow our young players an opportunity to play and progress, ... For some that opportunity will be this year. For others, it will be next year or the year after.
agreement excited extremely fans forward ice players pleased principle prospects reached returning welcoming
We are extremely pleased the NHL and Players Association have reached an agreement in principle and look forward to the ratification process. We are excited about the prospects of returning to the ice and welcoming our fans back to the MCI Center.
business economic grow league model stressed
From an economic standpoint, the league is much healthier, so as you grow your revenues you can proportionately grow your payrolls. The business model has been right-sized. We are not stressed now about the economics. Now we have to go about reselling the game.
aggressive allow ask block build building certainly forward great ourselves patience pick team
There's going to be a lot of expectations on this young man, being the first pick in the draft, but I ask that we allow ourselves some patience. We're going to build a team around him, a very strong, young, aggressive team, and he is certainly a great fundamental building block for us to go forward on.
action agent contract course encouraged firm hockey honor law russian team
This is not personal; it's business. This course of action was encouraged by our law firm and the NHL. We have a contract with Alexander, and we want his agent and Russian hockey team to honor that commitment.
deals
One day when he's ready, then I can think about deals like that.