Half an hour before a preseason hockey game last fall, Ted Leonsis strolled down the concourse of Capital One Arena in Washington, stopping every now and then to pose for someone’s selfie. Leonsis owns both the Washington Capitals, the National Hockey League team, and the arena itself, a squat behemoth that fills a block of Chinatown not far from Ford’s Theater. He also owns other teams that play there, including the Washington Wizards, in the National Basketball Association, and some smaller ones that don’t.

Leonsis is easily the most popular sports owner in the nation’s capital, though the Wizards have managed just one division title in his eight seasons and his N.H.L. team underachieved for years.