Verizon Center: How To Spend A Whole Weekend In One Place

In a city with many famous buildings, this one gets lost in the shuffle. But the Verizon Center has plenty to offer fans in the Nation’s Capitol.

No bad seats in the house! Unfortunately, many of these seats were filled by Nova fans.

Have you ever been on your way to a game, concert, or show and realized that you forgot to bring the tickets?

Have you done this multiple times?

(Sheepishly nods with eyes fixed on the ground).

Good news: you’re not alone!

The Wiz lost (but as you can see their predecessor, the Bullets, were champs back in ’78)

This past weekend, my friend and I were going to do the unthinkable: go to three unrelated sporting events in the same venue in one weekend. Friday night: Toronto Raptors vs. Washington Wizards; Saturday, noon: Villanova vs. Georgetown Men’s Basketball; Saturday night: Philadelphia Flyers vs. Washington Capitals. After a delicious pizza dinner, we walked to the Verizon Center, which was only about a block away from the restaurant. As we approached the gate, I reached for my pocket and immediately let out an exasperated groan and stopped in the middle of the sidewalk. No tickets. This was not the first time that this happened to me. Luckily we were going to be early so after taking the Metro towards my friend’s apartment, retrieving the tickets, and taking the Metro back to the stadium, we still arrived early enough to receive our Kelly Oubre bobble heads!!

That bobble head’s got some incredible hair

The rest of the weekend we were able to remember our tickets and we completed our amazing fan weekend: 3 games, 2 days, 1 arena. Don’t act like you’re not impressed.

Anyway, the Verizon Center is a cool building that blends in with the surrounding Chinatown neighborhood and offers great concessions options, good views from all seats, and is home to multiple sports franchises. It might not be the first stop on a DC tourist trip, but it’s a good one.

Aura/ Mystique/ Feel: If you are a hockey fan, go! The place was rocking during the Caps game and it’s a fun atmosphere. The Wizards game also featured a great home crowd. The Nova-Georgetown game was only half-capacity until about 10 minutes into the game. Then, it was half Nova fans. Based on my “sources,” the Wizards games usually are not that full and are usually not that lively. Half credit here, but if you go for a Caps game, you’ll have a great time.

Fans show up as soon as the gates open to watch their Caps warm up.

Food/Concessions: No matter what you want (burger, hot dog, tenders, snacks, barbecue, sandwiches, desserts, beverages), you’ll find it somewhere. You won’t need to walk very far to find it either as the place is full of concession stands. (The stands on the top level appear to close for Georgetown games). Full credit.

Imagery: I’m a big fan of how this professional arena seamlessly fits into the middle of the neighborhood. On the inside, it has a nice look with clean concourses and good views from everywhere. Fairly typical professional basketball and hockey arena. Half credit here, as it’s a perfectly fine arena but does not have a ton inside to differentiate from other arenas.

Neutral Fan Test: At the risk of becoming redundant, I really recommend checking out a Caps game. If you’re not a hockey fan, you might leave with a newfound love for the sport and the Caps. If you’re not a sports fan, you might leave with a new favorite sport!

Although if you’re not a sports fan and you are hypothetically visiting DC for 3–4 days, it’s probably going to be tough to sell this one. But there are so many sports to choose from (women’s and men’s professional basketball, hockey, college basketball) and it’s easy to get to, that I’ll give it full credit.

Ancillary: This arena is in the heart of Chinatown. It’s a great neighborhood with plenty of pregame and postgame spots. My friend and I went to Fuddrucker’s for snacks and shakes after the games on Friday and Saturday night. It’s essentially right above the Chinatown Metro stop so it’s easy to get to and from the arena. The fans are mostly passionate, the Staff is helpful, and it’s a multi-sport venue. Full credit here.

The Verizon Center embraces its Chinatown location.

The Verizon Center offers an enjoyable and affordable experience for any sports fan. Even if you fill up on great food at the stadium, you can always make room for an Oreo shake at “Fudd’s” across the street after the game.

I give it 4/5 Chicago Dogs (which would go great with one of those shakes).