<P> The arena was built in the mid-1990s solely with private financing by Abe Pollin, and is situated on top of land leased from the District of Columbia . It opened on December 2, 1997, as the MCI Center . Nearly a decade later, in January 2006, Verizon Communications purchased MCI and the arena's name was changed accordingly to Verizon Center . The following year, in 2007, the "first true indoor high - definition LED scoreboard" was installed at the Verizon Center . </P> <P> On June 10, 2010, following Pollin's death in November 2009, the Pollin family sold the arena, along with the Washington Wizards and the Washington - Baltimore area Ticketmaster franchise, to Ted Leonsis, who already owned the arena's other tenant, the Washington Capitals . Leonsis subsequently formed a new management company, Monumental Sports & Entertainment . </P> <P> A report emerged in May 2015 that Verizon would not renew its naming rights to the Verizon Center when its agreement with Monumental ended in 2018 . In the same week, it was announced that Etihad Airways signed a deal to become the official airline of the arena, sparking speculation that Etihad might be the leading contender to assume naming rights in 2017 . However, on August 9, 2017, it was announced Verizon Center had instead been renamed Capital One Arena, when Capital One signed an agreement worth $100 million over 10 years . </P> <P> The Washington Valor began play at the arena for their inaugural season in the Arena Football League . The Mystics will move after the 2018 WNBA season to a new, smaller arena currently under construction in the Congress Heights area of southeast Washington . </P>

When did verizon center become capital one arena