Wizards to Create AFL Team for 2017

(photo credit: ecadforum.com)

The Washington Post reported this afternoon that Ted Leonsis, the owner of the Washington Wizards, Washington Capitals, and Washington Mystics, will announce next week that he is now the owner of an Arena Football League franchise. 

The acquisition of the as-yet unnamed team will be formally announced at a news conference on Wednesday at Verizon Center. Leonsis, AFL commissioner Scott Butera, league officials and team ownership representatives, possibly to include fellow AFL owners Ron Jaworski and Gene Simmons, will be in attendance.

Reports of the Wizards and the AFL go back to November, when ArenaFan.com's Adam Markowitz reported that Leonsis was going to bring the AFL to D.C. Several months later, Leonsis has sealed the deal, and our nation's capital will get it’s first AFL team since 1987.

The Wizards will become the second NBA franchise to have ownership of an Arena Football League team. The other is Dan Gilbert; who in addition to owning the Cleveland Cavaliers and Lake Erie Monsters, is the owner of the Cleveland Gladiators. It was long believed that the San Antonio Spurs would be the second NBA team to get into the league, but an expected announcement at the home opener on Oct. 30 was scratched when the Board Of Directors voted to play the 2016 season with only nine teams (At the time, San Jose has since left).