 All teams qualified for the postseason, meaning that the regular season served only to establish seeding.On February 10, 2016, "The Washington Post" and radio station WTOP-FM first broke the story that Monumental Sports & Entertainment (Ted Leonsis, chairman), which also owns the NHL's Washington Capitals, NBA's Washington Wizards, and WNBA's Washington Mystics, were "close to a deal" in bring a new expansion franchise to the Verizon Center.On March 10, 2016, AFL commissioner Scott Butera announced that the deal was finalized and that the new Washington, D.C., team would begin play in 2017.