The team name "Valor", and colors of red, white, blue and silver were announced in July 2016.

The Valor were the first AFL franchise to play in the DC market since the Washington Commandos folded in 1990.

The Valor have one Arena Football League title, having defeated fellow Monumental property Baltimore in ArenaBowl XXXI.

[3][4] 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.

In a January 2019 interview with Forbes, Leonsis noted that the Valor were not particularly successful in regard to finances, and that he mainly used the team and its Baltimore counterpart to experiment with ideas to later use with his more prominent sports properties such as the Wizards, Mystics, and Capitals.