District E Powered by Ticketmaster/Esports
Last Friday, we officially opened District E Powered by Ticketmaster, a brand new esports and entertainment venue steps away from Capital One Arena through Gallery Place. Under the direction of Zach Leonsis, Monumental’s President of Media & New Ventures and in partnership with Capital One Arena’s General Manager, Jordan Silberman and our President of Business Operations & Chief Commercial Officer, Jim Van Stone, our new state of–the–art space is already up and running. It will play host to esports competitions and private events, and we expect small concerts, comedy and art shows – as well as pre- and post-event activations for fans attending Capitals and Wizards games or events to be mainstays in the venue as well. A very special thank you to the dozens of members of the Monumental staff and our partners at Ticketmaster and Aramark Sports + Entertainment who helped to make this venture happen.
The opening of District E marks a significant contribution to the esports and entertainment scene and we’re excited to use this venue to continue to grow it. This is a continued investment not only in the esports industry but also in the revitalization of the downtown D.C. area.
We want attendees to maximize the benefit of what District E has to offer, including our one-of-a-kind programming and brand-new restaurant – District Bites! We’re also excited to bring amateur gamers and the influencer streaming community together in one place and try out our new streaming pods in the future.
Additionally, we’ll use District E to house our esports franchises including two-time NBA 2K League champion Wizards District Gaming and Caps Gaming. This venue is already confirmed to host the NBA 2K League’s 2023 season [tickets for the NBA 2K League games at District E are available here] and other international esports league events including the NHL 23 North American Championships and select BLAST Spring final events in June.
Our initial investment in the esports ownership group, aXiomatic started the growth of our portfolio in esports in 2016, and we continue to see fans merging their digital dexterity with a live-game, competition experience – and see tremendous growth for the space. With the opening of District E, we have created an East Coast satellite office for global esports powerhouse Team Liquid, one of the brands operated by aXiomatic, and we are planning for the worldwide audience of the industry to arrive at our front door.
But we also want to foster growth of esports locally. We recently introduced our content creation and streaming team, District Elite, to engage with our local DMV esports and gaming communities. District E is the designated space for our resident streamers to represent our brand and support amateur interest in the space. The team combines the expertise of five popular local streamers: NoSleeves, LadyBlueFlames, Dashboarrd, JHobz, and AshBeGaming who have already been making an impact in esports individually.
This modern facility will offer something truly unique for fan engagement and community gathering. The latest technology will delight esports fans – and the fans attending our concerts, games and other Capital One Arena programming will have even more reason to arrive earlier, stay later and take in a variety of entertainment experiences which cannot be matched.
I can’t wait to see our fans enjoy District E and experience all the amazing things it has to offer – and create those life-long memories which will make this place truly special.
