MedStar Scores Naming Rights Deals with Caps, Wizards

ARLINGTON — Kettler Capitals Iceplex has been renamed MedStar Capitals Iceplex, and the new Washington Wizards practice facility in Southeast will be named the MedStar Wizards Performance Center.

These naming rights changes are part of an expanded partnership between Monumental Sports and Entertainment and MedStar Health, announced Monday morning at the iceplex.

MedStar Wizards Performance Center will be part of the St. Elizabeths East Entertainment and Sports Arena. The larger building, which will open in the fall as the new home of the Washington Mystics and new G League team Capital City Go-Go, will have a separate deal for naming rights.

More than a naming rights deal, the partnership also establishes a "medical council" that will include representatives from all seven Monumental teams Capitals, Wizards, Mystics, Go-Go, District Gaming, Washington Valor and Baltimore Brigade. It will focus not only on injury recovery and prevention, but also seeking competitive advantages and sharing that information across all teams.

"What the council does is that we have one team that has figured something out from an IT standpoint or an exercise science standpoint, it doesn't just stay with that one team," Wiemi Douoguih, MedStar's co-medical director of sports medicine, told The Washington Times. "All seven teams potentially can benefit from that tech or that new injury prevention method that's been developed."

MedStar became the Capitals' and Wizards' official medical partner in 2014. The not-for-profit healthcare provider operates 10 hospitals in the region.

"This is all based on the medicine and it's everything that MedStar's about," CEO and president Ken Samet said. "It's how we contribute to something that is so important to the city and to the region."

The practice facility used by the Wizards District Gaming esports team, adjacent Capital One Arena, will now be named the MedStar Wizards District Gaming Studio.

Elsewhere on the sponsorship front, Monumental CEO Ted Leonsis hinted that the Wizards could soon agree to terms for a new regular season jersey patch sponsor whether with MedStar or another organization. The Wizards already wear a MedStar patch on their training camp and practice jerseys.

"Stay tuned," Leonsis told reporters. "My bet is we'll do a big, big deal on the naming rights on the patch as well."

The whole Wizards District Gaming team attended the unveiling of the new name, as well as Wizards coach Scott Brooks, wearing a Go-Go T-shirt.

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