The Graeme Roustan Show: Jordan Silberman

The Hockey News' Money and Power 2025 hockey business annual is available at THN.com/free, featuring the annual 100 people of power and influence list.

W. Graeme Roustan, owner and publisher of The Hockey News, sat down with special guests for peer-to-peer conversations also featured in the issue, including Monumental Sports and Entertainment’s president of venues, Jordan Silberman,

Here's their full conversation in The Graeme Roustan Show:

Read along with an excerpt from their discussion:

W. GRAEME ROUSTAN: I want to learn a bit about your background. You grew up in the area, but what got you here?

JORDAN SILBERMAN: I’ve been with the organization for 15 years. I started in the finance department as a staff accountant and decided I didn’t want to be behind a desk all day. So, I took a job on the arena side working as an event manager and worked my way up through the organization and more back-of-house operations roles. And then, coming out of the pandemic, right before we reopened for fans, there were two people who were in the organization who left in about a two-week span, and I was thrust into an interim GM title, and I’ve kind of just run with it since. So, it’s been a crazy ride, but it’s been a great place to work, and I’m really grateful for all the opportunities here.

WGR: You walk in as a staff accountant, and now, you’re a president of venues.

JS: That’s a great story in and of itself, isn’t it? I have a little bit of history with this organization and this industry in itself. My dad actually worked in here and was responsible for building this building in the ’90s and worked for Abe Pollin at the Cap Centre. He worked here through 1999 and then left to build an arena and some stadiums down in Brazil and then opened up the Time Warner Cable Arena down in Charlotte. So, I was actually born into this industry. My mom’s water broke at the Cap Centre at an arena football game back in 1987. So, it’s been in my blood my entire life.

WGR: Did you feel as you were coming up the ladder that you were getting the support from management to continue to grow?

JS: This organization really, really focuses on career development and making sure that they provide opportunities for young people in the organization to continue to grow. It’s not necessarily normal in the sports-and-entertainment industry for somebody to stay with the same organization just because of the sheer numbers of it, where there are only so many jobs in the big four (sports) that present themselves. I was in the right place, right time. But also a really supportive management team. Ted (Leonsis) and Dick (Patrick) and the entire organization has had my back and really supported me along the way.

WGR: Now, they’re trusting you with an $800-million renovation?

JS: Yeah, we have a big, big project coming up. We’re going to try to do a lot in a little amount of time, but it’s a chance to really transform this building. Ted asked us to, at the onset of the project, to make it new. And that’s been the charge for our project team as we’ve come together.

WGR: You’ve got to do it on the fly, don’t you?

JS: In a perfect world, there’d be another venue in-market, and we could go play Caps and Wizards games there for two seasons, but we don’t have that luxury in D.C. So, our intent is, as soon as the Caps win the Stanley Cup final this year, to start construction on the project.

And we’ll work through Sept. 26th, which I believe is the first Caps pre-season game, on the majority of the project. There’ll be little things that we can do behind the walls or behind the scenes that won’t impact the player or fan experience, but the majority of the work will take place over the course of three summers when we’re shutting down for concerts.

For this conversation, more interviews and a deep look into the world of the hockey business, check out The Hockey News' Money and Power 2025 issue, available at THN.com/free.