🏆 7 Big Takeaways From Our Two Days With Monumental Sports

This is Buying Sideline — the only newsletter that focuses solely on the business of sports hospitality.

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Last month, we took you inside Monumental Sports and Entertainment’s choose your own premium proposition at Capital One Arena. Now, we’re launching our full-access video tour that gives an inside look at Monumental’s premium strategy amid a massive renovation exceeding $1B.

Here are our 7 BIG TAKEAWAYS from our time with Monumental’s Jim Van Stone, President of Business Operations and Chief Commercial Officer, and Adam Gotts, SVP of Project and Revenue Management.

Traditionally, premium hospitality was built primarily around corporate buyers, but Monumental is leaning into the broader shift of experience-driven customers who want more options and are more willing than ever to pay for them.

The result? A more diverse premium portfolio designed for different audiences and budgets.

Consider three products within Capital One Arena’s premium portfolio:

These spaces each serve different needs — and clients — creating a more diverse menu and opportunities to reach buyers who may not have considered premium products.

Monumental transformed underused third-floor space into The Reserve, an appointment-only interactive experience center where prospective buyers can explore future premium spaces and get a preview of the arena’s transformation.

Unlike an off-site showroom, The Reserve provides prospective buyers with a better understanding and more authentic feel of how the products work within the arena’s changing layout.

There are some other advantages to on-site sales:

With the boom of stadium and arena renovations sweeping pro and college sports, The Reserve works as a good example of how underused space can drive sales for products that aren’t even available yet.

Whether it’s through dedicated entrances, concierge services or VIP experiences, Monumental made it clear that the “street-to-seat” experience is a key part of its strategy with hospitality starting from the time a visitor arrives at the arena.

Capital One cardholders also get a dedicated entrance.

Elevated spaces, food and beverage, technology and game views are each core to the package, but the overall experience will fall short without the convenience and comfort brought by frictionless ingress and egress.

There may not be a premium hospitality executive in the country who isn’t trying to answer this very question.

For Monumental, the answer comes in three parts:

Previously, a corporate buyer might book a meeting at one spot, host a reception at another, and then take clients to a game. Once Monumental completes its expanded campus, a company could potentially check all three of these boxes in one place.

And revenue opportunities don’t stop there. Longer visits create more opportunities for spending (F&B, sponsor engagement, etc.), while additional event space gives Monumental new ways to monetize the building outside of games, concerts and other events.

Walk into the United Globe Club, and it’s immediately clear how deeply a sponsor can be integrated into the premium experience.

Monumental worked with United Airlines and Elevate to create a flight-themed environment that subtly showcases the airline’s brand.

Meanwhile, similar design and space collaborations also helped shape concepts in the Lexus Vault and LG Collective.

The sponsor doesn’t just get visibility, it also becomes part of the experience as guests spend time that is more authentically associated with the brand. In other words, the brand becomes more a part of what guests actually experience.

For Monumental, that creates an opportunity to command greater sponsorship revenue by offering a deeper, more valuable partnership that extends beyond traditional naming rights.

We didn’t have a perfect quote to encapsulate the service element, but what we experienced at Capital One Arena makes a strong case for why service is so important.

Monumental has assembled a dedicated concierge team of roughly 60 highly trained employees to serve guests across its premium spaces. The group is separate from the arena’s guest experience, security and concession operations, but it works closely with each department. This emphasizes how important Monumental feels the group is to the execution of its premium offerings.

Inside the Lexus Vaults, which is where we spent the most time during our two nights, the concierge staff welcomed guests, escorted us to and from our private space and seats, while private expert mixologists were both friendly and engaging.

For a buyer looking to host, they don’t have to carry the burden of hosting as the concierge team effectively runs the entire process, helping guests feel taken care of, even if the guest who purchased the tickets is somewhere else.

The thesis is simple: New spaces can attract premium buyers, but the quality of service gives them a reason to come back.

Monumental feels that it has a distinct advantage over many of its professional sports counterparts — and it does.

The group not only owns its teams and venue but also operates its own media business, allowing it to integrate multiple elements of a sponsorship partnership.

One example discussed during our tour was the Capitals’ power-play sponsorship with Attalon which connects what fans see inside the arena with television broadcasts, digital platforms and social media distribution.

According to Monumental, roughly 70% of its current partnerships include some form of media integration.

Here’s what that looks like big picture for a brand working with Monumental:

For sponsors, that means more paths to activate a partnership. For Monumental, it means more ways to grow its value.

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