Monumental to receive prestigious honor at 2025 Cynopsis Sports Media Awards in June
Washington, D.C. (February 19, 2025) – Today, Cynopsis Media announced Monumental Sports & Entertainment (MSE) will be honored as the “Media Company of the Year” at the 2025 Cynopsis Sports Media Awards. The 14th annual awards show – taking place on June 4 in New York City – recognizes companies and individuals across production, marketing, and technology teams, saluting their hard work and innovation across the sports industry.
“It’s a terrific honor to have Cynopsis recognize our organization as ‘Media Company of the Year’ and we’re deeply grateful to our talented and dedicated staff, incredible partners, and the passionate fans who made this possible,” said Zach Leonsis, President of Media & New Enterprises at MSE. “From the very beginning, we’ve viewed Monumental as a media company with a commitment to pushing the boundaries of innovation and creating a fan experience that connects with and excites our community. This achievement is a testament to the collective hard work and vision of all involved, and we look forward to continuing to elevate the media experience for the DMV region for years to come.”
Over the past year, MSE has solidified its status as one of the most influential enterprises in the sports media landscape. MSE has the strongest media committee representation at the league level in all of sports, has the largest in-house production team in the NBA, NHL, and WNBA, and owns and distributes the local broadcast rights for the NHL’s Washington Capitals, NBA’s Washington Wizards, WNBA’s Washington Mystics, and NBA G League’s Capital City Go-Go through Monumental Sports Network (MNMT).
While other regional sports networks navigate shifting viewer behavior, MNMT has completely changed how fans consume local sports content. Recent additions to MNMT’s programming lineup include four categories of alternate broadcasts (including Spanish language broadcasts), original programs with national names like Hometown with Rachel Nichols, Politics Aside with Chris Cillizza, and Sports Business Journal: Inside the Industry, and the launch of Monumental+, an upgraded state-of-the-art app that, as of February 2025, includes integrated real-time sports betting odds and gamification options during live game streams for the Capitals and Wizards through “Monumental Game Center.”
In addition to controlling the local rights for the Capitals, Wizards, Mystics, and Go-Go, a critical part of MNMT’s mission is to elevate local sports at different levels and celebrate integral groups in the community like high schools, colleges, and HBCUs. MNMT will air close to 500 live games during the 2024-25 season, an all-time high. Programming for this year includes live games of local partners like the Washington Spirit (NWSL), Old Glory DC (Major League Rugby), Annapolis Blues (NPSL), and D.C.-area college football, men’s and women’s college basketball, college volleyball, college lacrosse, and boys and girls high school basketball.
Last March, MSE brought to life one of the most important efforts in company history: the design, development, and integration of the company’s bleeding-edge 2110 IP-based production facility and studio – the home of MNMT. The brand-new multi-million-dollar headquarters includes two national-quality studios engineered to deliver exceptional backdrops for MNMT’s programming, two insert studios, and five control rooms. This remarkable facility marked a significant milestone in MSE’s mission to create a best-in-class media experience for viewers in the DMV region.
“Media Company of the Year” is one of several recent media-related awards for MSE. Last April, MSE celebrated multiple winners at the 2024 Cynopsis Sports Media Awards, earning awards for best regional marketing campaign (Washington Wizards), best new show (Caps Red Line on Monumental Sports Network) and outstanding individual achievement in sports broadcasting (Alexa Landestoy). Cynopsis also acknowledged MSE staff, departments, campaigns and Monumental Sports Network as finalists in several categories.
In recognition of the network’s exemplary achievements, in December 2023, Sports Business Journal (SBJ) announced Monumental Sports Network as the recipient of its “Best in Local Media” award. Last June, MSE received six Capital Emmy Awards and earned the Sports and Entertainment Company of the Year for Engagement Excellence award at the 2024 Hashtag Sports Awards. MNMT was also named to The Sports Technology Power List 2024 in November.
In addition to recognizing organizations across a variety of award categories, each year Cynopsis honors a set of industry luminaries via accolades such as the Trailblazer Award, Navigator Award, Engagement Innovation Luminary, League of the Year, Brand of the Year, and Media Company of the Year. Previous Media Company of the Year honorees include FOX Sports, YES Network, Marquee Sports Network, MSG Network, and Telemundo Deportes. Other 2025 luminaries include the Professional Bull Riders (PBR), being recognized as League of the Year.
For more information on the 2025 Cynopsis Sports Media Awards, please visit cynopsis.com/events/2025-sports-media-awards/.
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About Monumental Sports & Entertainment
Monumental Sports & Entertainment is America’s leading sports and entertainment family. Our people, players, teams and events bring excitement and joy to millions. We invest and innovate to consistently raise the game so we can deliver extraordinary experiences that will inspire and unite our community, our fans and our people. To learn more, please visit monumentalsports.com.
About Monumental Sports Network
Monumental Sports Network is wholly owned and operated by Monumental Sports & Entertainment (MSE). The network holds exclusive local television media rights for the NHL’s Washington Capitals, NBA’s Washington Wizards and WNBA’s Washington Mystics games. MNMT is also the TV and digital home to the NBA G League’s Capital City Go-Go and the NBA 2K League’s Wizards District Gaming as well as exclusive behind-the-scenes content and original sports and entertainment programming. The network also boasts the most comprehensive regional high school and collegiate sports programming in the greater Washington D.C. metro area. For more, visit: monumentalsportsnetwork.com.
