Why Your Next Meeting Could Be at an NBA Game

As companies explore ways to bring employees face to face, more are moving their meetings to places where employees can be productive but also have fun. Emerging players in all this are sports arenas that are modifying corporate suites and boxes by adding desks, audio-visual equipment and other elements that facilitate meetings as well as parties.

The global professional services firm KPMG is opening its latest “Ignition Center” in a box suite at Capital One Arena, the home of the NHL’s Washington Capitals and NBA’s Wizards in downtown Washington, D.C.

KPMG’s Capital One Arena suite highlights another shift in workplace real estate as employers scramble to bring employees together for face-to-face interaction. Rather than add amenities to their offices, some businesses have decided to raise their games by opening offsite meeting spaces in places that already offer entertainment and amenities, like sports arenas. Other fundamentals at these venues, like ample parking and proximity to public transit, are an added plus.

One expert who spoke with LoopNet says these office and meeting spaces in sports venues expand on the trend of experiential offices, which often cater to specific users.

“What's going on in the office industry right now is there's segmentation that's starting to form. People are targeting law firms or targeting women, we're starting to see more and more of this brand identity [concept],” said Giovanni Palavicini, a Dallas-based principal of Avison Young’s flexible solutions practice. “We're going to continue to see these types of things where they're very experience-driven.”

The box suite-turned-office suite at Capital One Arena marks the latest example of an office space moving into a sports complex. Spark Coworking is opening a coworking space in Chocktaw Stadium, the redeveloped former home of the Texas Rangers baseball team, while coworking space is already available at The Star, the Dallas Cowboys’ practice facility.

KPMG didn’t just add desks to its new 900-square-foot suite. It also installed video walls and interactive screens so that colleagues and clients can lead meetings, then catch a game or concert from the comfort of their box seats later.

KPMG has opened several “ignition centers” in cities across the world, but the suite at Capital One Arena in Washington is the firm’s first in an entertainment venue. This comes as many white-collar firms offer full-time remote work to their employees, letting them come to the office only when they have important meetings or otherwise feel like leaving home. In addition to season tickets, KPMG has a 5-year lease for the space, with an option to renew. The renovation took six months.

KPMG’s suite at Capital One Arena fits 28 people, and Tim Gillis, the firm’s Washington, D.C., Office Managing Partner, said that it will be used “very intentionally” as a meeting and hospitality space for colleagues and clients.

“This provides an opportunity for our clients to immerse themselves in a collaborative environment outside of their traditional office space. Our model has proven successful – over the years KPMG Ignition has assisted businesses across multiple industries,” Gillis said. “Those experiences are then only enhanced by the ease of transitioning from a working session into a basketball or hockey event.”

There are benefits to this arrangement from the landlord’s perspective, too. Thanks to pandemic lockdowns and the growing legalization of sports betting, more and more arena owners are seeking alternative uses for space in their properties. Capital One Arena was the first in the country to open a brick-and-mortar sportsbook, and will soon open District E, an Esports studio, next door.

Ted Leonsis, who owns the Washington Capitals and Wizards through Monumental Sports, calls the reimagining of suite space within an arena another innovation that will add value to Capital One Arena and activate it more year-round.

“When this idea came up, we jumped on it as partners, because we think it does create a whole new category and a whole new way to use this investment in downtown real estate in a new way,” Leonsis said. “To be able to repurpose this building to be 24-7, to just give more life to downtown [Washington], I think is really, really important for the city, and for people that live here.”

It’s an idea that could continue to catch on at other sports venues across the country, especially as the construction costs of these venues increase and raise incentives for multiple uses, Palavicini said.

“If they're super successful, then it's in the landlord's best interest to figure out if this thing has some runway,” he said. “Because if KPMG is successful with it, then they get to go sell the other suites, and sell them for the same type of use and get a higher value out of them.”

Movie theater chains, which especially struggled during pandemic lockdowns, have also moved to offer up their screens for concerts and Esports events, as well as corporate meetings and private screenings.

KPMG believes it installed all the technology it needs to lead successful conferences in the arena suite. That technology includes central video wall displays and interactive screens throughout the room. High-resolution monitors on the ceiling and in the suite’s entryway display visuals, and video streaming allows for participants to dial into meetings too.

“From its walls to its ceilings and to its furniture, the suite’s modular and movable furniture can create exclusive room designs and support different functions for each business session,” Gillis said.

The KPMG Ignition Center at Capital One Arena is open for business. It remains to be seen whether more office spaces inside entertainment venues catch on, but for businesses that may be interested in opening similar spaces, Palavicini said the same fundamentals apply.

“The reality is you have to draw people in now, people have a choice, whether they're going to come in or not,” he said. “It comes down to understanding who you're targeting and why.”