- 2 months ago
Jim Van Stone is the President of Business Operations and Chief Commercial Officer at Monumental Sports & Entertainment. He sat down with The Sports Junkies this morning to break down the massive renovations that are taking place at Capital One Arena.
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00:00Is our pal Jim Van Stone, President of Business Operations, Chief Commercial Officer at Monumental
00:06Sports and Entertainment.
00:07What's up, Jim?
00:08Jim.
00:09Welcome.
00:09Been a busy summer.
00:10Good to see you guys.
00:11Has been a busy summer.
00:12Three of us saw you at the races.
00:15We did.
00:15What an epic weekend that was.
00:17That was amazing.
00:18Yeah.
00:18JP, you mean the Freedom 250?
00:20The Freedom 250.
00:21You mean that?
00:21You guys are representing your always on brand.
00:22I didn't see the Freedom 250.
00:24I saw the races on Saturday.
00:26Yeah, I did too.
00:27I saw the qualifying.
00:28So don't say you saw the Freedom 250.
00:30Okay, I was at the event.
00:31I watched it on TV.
00:33It was unbelievable.
00:34We got really lucky with the weather.
00:36We did.
00:36It was perfect.
00:37And honestly, a big shout out to our partners at Penske Entertainment.
00:40I mean, you know, Bud Denker and Team Roger Penske.
00:43It was awesome.
00:44It was great for the community.
00:45Over 215,000 people attended both race days.
00:48You know, it was just epic.
00:49And the scenery around downtown D.C. was awesome.
00:52And to do this in August when it's traditionally a quiet month in town was perfect for us.
00:57So is that the kind of thing that, I mean, you don't do something like that every year.
01:00But, I mean, could they do it again in five years or something?
01:03Or, like, how does something like that work?
01:05You know what?
01:05I think the infrastructure is built out to do it.
01:07I mean, the mall is a perfect location.
01:09Yeah.
01:09I don't think the mall has ever been activated like that in that scale.
01:12And, you know, what a great test run to be able to do this.
01:15And hopefully we can bring in more marquee events.
01:17You know, I know the NFL is doing the draft in the spring down there.
01:20So I think it's a must-do.
01:23And I think there's a potential.
01:24There's a marketplace for, you know, IndyCar to really make D.C. a home.
01:28And hopefully that happens in time.
01:30And it was a great race, too.
01:32Oh, it was competitive.
01:33It really was.
01:34I mean, you had a few crashes, a few accidents.
01:36But what was it, Kyle?
01:38What was it, Underwood?
01:40Who won it?
01:41Kirkwood.
01:42Kyle Kirkwood.
01:43He was Jack.
01:44He's a Florida guy.
01:45So the American won it, which was perfect.
01:47He's a demon on the street races.
01:48I think he won Arlington, too.
01:50So, I mean, he's unbelievable.
01:51But, yeah, they had their best crop of, you know, drivers there.
01:54And they were amazing people.
01:55We did a lot of events leading into the weekend.
01:57And they were all so thrilled about being in this community.
02:00And it just shows how important the DMV is to the country as a whole.
02:04And, you know, it was spectacular overall.
02:06Did you talk to any of the race teams after the race?
02:08Did they really like it here?
02:09No.
02:10They loved it.
02:11We heard a lot from the IndyCar people.
02:13These guys are unbelievable.
02:15They raced the following weekend in Milwaukee.
02:16Now they've got their final race this weekend.
02:19I mean, it is a traveling show.
02:21And, you know what?
02:21They do an incredible job of it.
02:23And, you know, hopefully this has been the only really East Coast location that IndyCar has had over the years.
02:28So we're hoping it becomes a mainstay in the community.
02:30So talk about all the work that you guys are doing here.
02:33I see you have that hard hat there.
02:35We don't know anything about that, do we, K?
02:36Because we've never seen any of that real man.
02:37Oh, my goodness.
02:38I mean, I've put on a bike helmet before, but never wanted to be in a construction zone.
02:41Well, you know what?
02:43I figured I had to bring this to get you guys to sign it.
02:45You're part of the team.
02:46I look at you guys from that standpoint.
02:48I mean, we all work together, and you guys have helped us build our monumental sports network.
02:52Yeah, but we can't help you build the building or rebuild the building.
02:55Well, you know what?
02:56We're not qualified.
02:57I've been telling a lot of people, you love to say it's a labor of love.
03:00It's been pure labor.
03:01And a big shout-out to Robbie Moser, Lee DeLong, Jeff King, Derek Stephens.
03:05The team at Clark Construction has been unbelievable.
03:08Our architects in Gensler, Jordan Goldstein, Andrew Jacobs, they've been absolutely spectacular.
03:13But we've been all in this together.
03:15And, you know, I think with this district and our commitment to one another, you know, it's been a full
03:21-team effort from that standpoint.
03:24There's still a lot of scaffolding outside.
03:26There is.
03:26And games are around the corner.
03:28Yep.
03:29So when we come to see a Caps game or a Wizards game in a month or two, is that
03:33all going to be gone or is it still going to be there?
03:35No, that's going to be a work in progress, the exterior.
03:37It's going to take us literally probably 18 months from start to completion of it.
03:41It's going to be a brand-new exterior.
03:43We're expanding the footprint of the building.
03:45We are going to have new entrances for the upcoming season, especially our new entrance at 7th and F.
03:50Not going to be fully completed with the bells and whistles, but it's going to be operational.
03:54Does that mean also it's going to be – because let's be honest, you go to a Caps game, sometimes
03:57you've got to wait a little while, right?
03:58Yeah.
03:59Is it going to be a little quicker to get people in and out?
04:01We're going to do a lot of advanced messaging, know before you go.
04:04So people are arriving early.
04:05We're going to open up the doors a little bit earlier than we have done previously to get people in,
04:09especially, you know, as we get into some of the inclement weather.
04:12We're going to be communicating, you know, consistently throughout the upcoming season.
04:16This is the one where people are going to start to see visible signs of change of what's coming.
04:21Right.
04:21So a lot of the work that's been done previously has been all the enablement work.
04:25What was that – I'm sorry.
04:26What was it – you said the new entrance at 7th and F?
04:28New entrance at 7th and F.
04:29What was there before?
04:30Basically, that was close to – it used to be a gym.
04:34It was Vita at one time, and we really transformed that to get people closer to the metro stop.
04:38That was really important for us.
04:39Right.
04:39You know, as people get off metro, we're still the third busiest metro stop in the greater Washington area.
04:43So we wanted to have people have that street-to-seat experience.
04:47So we were all lucky enough last year, several times, some of us, to go to the vault suites.
04:51And that's just sort of an entree to all of the different things that you guys are doing, right?
04:56You know what?
04:56My most thing that I'm looking forward to the most is what we're doing for the general fans.
05:01Our recreated concourses on the main concourse and the terrace-level concourse are absolutely magnificent.
05:07I've seen the video walls.
05:09Visible is unbelievable.
05:10If you've ever been to the Sphere or Cosm, I mean, you're going to feel part of the event as
05:13soon as you walk in the doors, which is unbelievable.
05:16We're installing, I think, upwards of 60 cameras inside the arena to be able to track people and track what's
05:21happening on the court itself.
05:23So you're going to feel part of the action almost immediately.
05:25What are you tracking the people for?
05:26No, no.
05:27I mean the guys on the court.
05:28The guys on the court.
05:29The women on the court.
05:30So the players, yes.
05:31What's happening in the game.
05:32No, I don't mean anything like that.
05:34Right, right.
05:34Right, so that's what the, and then sort of like upgraded, like, does that include like restaurants and all that?
05:41Concessions, restaurants.
05:42We have a grand food hall on the terrace level.
05:45We've got new vertical transportation coming in, new escalators to get people up to the levels sooner and quicker.
05:50Nice.
05:50You know, from that end, really adding more entrances into the building.
05:54I think we're going up to eight entrances, 22 elevators and escalators.
05:57So, you know, more restrooms.
05:59We don't want people waiting in line at all.
06:01So the concession experience, the culinary experience is going to be expanded.
06:05A lot of that stuff is going to start to come to life this year, but really the bulk of
06:09it is going to happen after next summer.
06:10Yeah, so Ted Leont is tweeting about the enhanced bathrooms, that people are going to be waiting less and, you
06:15know, more time to be in the seats watching the action.
06:17You know, it's funny.
06:18You find out what really excites people, and I think we're excited about the restrooms.
06:22We have people waiting in line about the restrooms.
06:24Nobody likes that.
06:24The restrooms are our first quality.
06:27I mean, everything is high-end finishes.
06:28You're not going to have the days in there or anything like that.
06:31Probably not getting that far, but we're going to hopefully have more to get people in and out quicker.
06:34Might as well ask.
06:35I mean, you know.
06:37What about the silly, again, the vault experience and all that?
06:41How is that going to another level?
06:43You know, I think we're looking at really high-end experiences for every guest in the building.
06:48Love high-end experiences.
06:50We're big on that.
06:51We're hyper-focused on that.
06:52I mean, certainly the general fan.
06:54Not anymore.
06:54No, it's a jade.
06:56Close to death, buddy.
06:58Our premium is going to be phenomenal.
07:01You know, it's basically a lot of the work that we've done really was based on research.
07:05We surveyed a lot of our customers going in and saying, hey, what do we need to do?
07:09What do we need to change to make the experience better?
07:11I think it helped us that some of the partners in Gensler and Clark are local base, so they
07:16come to the building on a nightly basis.
07:17So they knew what the obstacles were, what the challenges were, and they're helping us kind
07:22of recreate that journey in customer way.
07:24I think everyone's going to feel like a VIP.
07:27I mean, that has been the mission from Ted from the very beginning.
07:30We want everyone to feel like tonight they're the most important person we have in the building.
07:33Did you really know when you guys came to the agreement to do all of this that it would
07:39come to life in this way and that it would be as elite as it's turning out to be?
07:45Did you have the vision in your own head?
07:47We did.
07:48I think we did as a team.
07:49I think, you know what, we spend a lot of time talking about what the customer experience
07:53is, what fans want.
07:55Getting research, I think, is really important from our standpoint.
07:58So I think we did a really good job.
08:01We canvassed really a lot of other arenas and stadiums.
08:04Yeah, what's the closest comp that's doing it at the high end?
08:07In the NFL, you'd always say it really started with Jerry's world, right?
08:10Yeah.
08:11That kind of spread so fine, et cetera.
08:13Yeah, I think there's some really great buildings out there.
08:15I mean, you know what, I don't think there was one that really stood out for us.
08:19We pick and chose from all the different buildings to really kind of cultivate what we thought
08:23would be the best fan experience.
08:24I think we've also looked at some stadiums.
08:27You know, Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London we thought was phenomenal in terms of what they
08:33were doing from a premium landscape standpoint.
08:36We looked at some other spaces that, you know, really allowed us to create more of a sports
08:40and entertainment district.
08:40I think one of the things that's been a catalyst for us is really acquiring some of the gallery
08:45place mall.
08:47You know, we're taking over the atrium from that standpoint, allowing us to really expand,
08:52you know, going a little bit closer to the H Street side of the building.
08:55So, you know, we looked at everything.
08:57And I think we didn't take one building and said, hey, that's best in class.
09:00I think we took a little bit from all.
09:02As president of business operations, does it help when you guys draft AJ DeBansa, number one,
09:07with the Wizards, Caps make all these moves.
09:10It's got to help, right?
09:11The excitement in town is getting higher and higher.
09:13And if he comes back, that certainly helps.
09:15That was big.
09:16Yeah.
09:16You guys are saying everything.
09:17It's all of the above.
09:19All of it has to come together.
09:20And, you know, our team operations folks, Michael Winger and Will Dawkins on the Wizard
09:24side have been tremendous.
09:25John Thompson and Michael Winger on the Mystics.
09:28The Mystics are in the playoffs.
09:29We're really excited about what that landscape looks like.
09:31We're playing a game here on September 24th when we reopened the building, which is great.
09:36And then really what Chris Patrick did, you know, Brian McClellan, you know, Spencer on
09:41the hockey side, I think has really put us in a great situation.
09:44And Ovi, coming back, you can't complain about that.
09:46That's massive, yeah.
09:46So I was thinking about this the other day.
09:49Your job, I don't know enough about it, but your president of business operations has
09:52got these great titles, right?
09:54When I see you, you're a professional schmoozer.
09:57How many people do you think you know?
10:00Like, how many people do you have on your phone?
10:01Like, this guy has to know so many people.
10:03Oh, it's, you know what?
10:05Are you good with names?
10:07I'm pretty good with names, I think.
10:09I try to say people's names multiple times, you know, and then hopefully that registers
10:13a little bit.
10:14But, you know, D.C. is such an easy area to get connected.
10:17I mean, I think it's an incredible community.
10:19And, you know, the fan support that we get throughout the region is great.
10:23And, you know, I think most of the people that we have, if not, you know, all of them,
10:27you know, are really excited about what we're doing here.
10:28So, you know, we focus on the positives and we focus on, you know, doing what fans are
10:33looking for from that standpoint.
10:35But D.C. is, as you guys know, it's a great place to live and raise a family.
10:38And it's an easy place to get connected.
10:40And it's a huge sports town.
10:42I mean, at the end of the day, this is a big time sports town.
10:45And you know what?
10:46It's great to see all the teams going in the direction that we are.
10:48And, you know, I think a lot of it, you know, a lot of the credit goes to the mayor.
10:52I mean, what she's doing from a infrastructure standpoint with these sports venues in town
10:56is second to none.
10:58I mean, it really is the capital of sports from my perspective.
11:00She was very impressive at the Freedom 250 when she said,
11:04Racers to your cars.
11:06Well, that was her job.
11:07That was her job.
11:08That was her job.
11:09That was on her script.
11:09What did you want her to add, Lynn?
11:10She was good at it.
11:12You wanted to start your engines.
11:12That was somebody else's job.
11:14I don't think she was good at it.
11:15She was good at it.
11:15A better salesperson for this city.
11:17And she's trying to bring big-time events to Washington, D.C., which is incredible.
11:20I couldn't have done it.
11:21I know that.
11:21No, she's got a legacy, no doubt.
11:23She does.
11:23I mean, yeah, for sure.
11:25I want to see the locker rooms.
11:27Are those going to be upgraded, too?
11:29Everything's going to be upgraded.
11:29Oh, yeah, locker rooms?
11:30Big time.
11:31We have to bring you guys behind the scenes.
11:33I mean, you guys only traditionally go to the high-end stuff.
11:36We've got to bring it into the bowels of the arena.
11:38I mean, everything is unbelievable.
11:40You want the high-end, EB?
11:42I want the high-end.
11:42I want to see the high-end locker rooms.
11:44No, I want to see it all, though, for sure.
11:45You know, I will tell you, the athlete experience is absolutely 100% a passion point for us,
11:50and we really did a lot of investment in the athlete spaces.
11:54And, you know, I think there was a clip last year from one of the Wizards players and said,
11:59you know, I've been in the league a long time.
12:00This is one of the best locker rooms I've ever seen.
12:02You know, so that really sets the tone, I think, and it does resonate.
12:06Other players see it.
12:07Can you give the fans an idea, like some of the accoutrements that the guys have in the locker room?
12:13Guys that have, people that have never been in a professional locker room?
12:16I think all the best training facilities.
12:18I mean, everything is phenomenal from a training perspective.
12:21You know, there's lounges.
12:22The weight room's been upgraded.
12:24The actual locker room space is enormous.
12:26I think, you know, it's almost double the size for both teams from that standpoint.
12:30It really is an athlete compound, and that's really what we wanted.
12:34I think the medical services that we get from, you know, our partners at MedStar Health is tremendous.
12:39They've got more space to do it.
12:41You know, Kent Samet and the team over there just do an incredible job of supporting the teams that we
12:45have.
12:45So I think we're really prepared to have an incredible athlete experience.
12:49I think we also looked at, you know, what's important from an athlete today is to make sure that their
12:54families are taken care of.
12:55I think what we've done from the athlete family standpoint and the players lounge and the family lounge has been
13:00tremendous from that end.
13:02And, you know, the players arrive, and, you know, we take their car, we park it for them, and then
13:07they go in, and they arrive, and they feel like they're at home.
13:10Hey, can we get that in our workplace?
13:13I know.
13:13I don't like my car parts for me.
13:16Are you listening, buddy?
13:17That's nice.
13:18Valet service?
13:19They don't have to park in another hotel.
13:20Hey, Jason and I have valet service.
13:21It's two blocks away.
13:22That's true.
13:23We've got to walk two blocks.
13:24And you used to.
13:25That's true.
13:25That's a good point.
13:27The Wizards and the Caps don't have to do that.
13:29What percentage of the project will be, you know, completed before, you know, the season starts?
13:36So we, from at least my perspective, I think we're halfway.
13:39Halfway.
13:39You know, we're about halfway through.
13:41Is that on schedule?
13:43It is on schedule.
13:44And the reason I say halfway is the exterior of the building with the new entrances, what the look is,
13:49you know, what the design, you know, expanding the footprint.
13:52That is an 18-month-plus project.
13:54So, you know, from our standpoint, it's about halfway through.
13:57We are going to do a lot of work this year during the season behind walls in a lot of
14:02spaces based on the expansion of the building itself.
14:04But inside, the experience for the fans is going to be.
14:07The experience, you know, it's going to be normal.
14:10It's going to be a little bit tighter.
14:11You know, it's going to be a little bit more limited, probably on the concession standpoints from that end.
14:16You know, but I think for the most part, people are going to have the same experience that they have.
14:20You know, I think we're going to try to educate people of what's coming.
14:23You know, part of our journey here is making sure that customers know exactly what to expect coming into it.
14:29But we also want them to know what it's going to be at the completion of the project.
14:32So we're going to do a lot of education on that end.
14:34But I think for the most part, I mean, you know, we feel like the building is going to be
14:38ready to go.
14:39And we're excited.
14:39Our first event is in two weeks with Garth Brooks for two nights, which is tremendous.
14:44Our music venue business right now is booming.
14:47I mean, what we're doing in a couple weeks leading into the sports teams' seasons is incredible.
14:52Olivia Arrigo for two nights.
14:54I've got to hit you up on that one.
14:55I know.
14:56That's a hot one.
14:57I mean, it's crazy.
14:58I saw something.
14:59I think the tickets were going for a couple thousand dollars.
15:02I mean, it's amazing.
15:04I saw Gaga here.
15:06And it's just amazing to see, like, how you guys can transform a place that has games into a ridiculous
15:13set in a day.
15:14Right.
15:14Our stage crew team is unbelievable.
15:17Last year, I don't know.
15:18I don't think we publicly said this.
15:19We did 147 events in 175 days.
15:22Some of them were doubleheaders.
15:24I mean, that's scheduled.
15:24Do you go to most of them, if not?
15:26I go to a lot of the sports teams and then select shows.
15:28You know, it really depends on, you know, guests that are coming in and everything from that end.
15:32But we all are here.
15:33We come and we want to go through the experience.
15:35And I think it helps educate us.
15:37You guys have great comedy shows, too.
15:39We do.
15:39I saw Dave Chappelle was awesome.
15:42Sebastian Maniscalco.
15:43I mean, you guys put on big-time acts here.
15:45Yeah, I think we had, like, five or six comedy shows last year that were tremendous.
15:48The first game is, you said, September 24th?
15:50September 24th is the first game.
15:52It's the Washington Mystics.
15:54Mystics, right.
15:54So, against Chicago.
15:55So, we're really excited about that.
15:57Then we've got a Caps preseason game the night before.
16:00Caps home opener October 7th.
16:02And Wizards home opener October 23rd.
16:04It's here.
16:04And fans will feel it right away.
16:05They'll notice a difference right away.
16:06I think they will.
16:07I think they will.
16:08All right.
16:08It's Jim Vanstone, president of business operations for Monumental Sports Entertainment.
16:12Thank you, JBS.
16:12Appreciate it.
16:13We're the Junkies.
16:14Coming right back.
16:14Can I get you guys a sign?
16:16Absolutely.
16:16All right.
16:17We got you.
16:17We got you.
16:18100%.