By David Aldridge, Brittany Ghiroli and Ken Rosenthal
A group led by Washington Wizards, Capitals and Mystics owner Ted Leonsis are emerging as favorites to buy the Washington nationals of the Lerner family, according to sources within the organization and major league baseball who were not authorized to speak publicly on the subject. If Leonsis, 65, completes the purchase of the Nationals, he would become the second owner to currently have teams in three of the top four men’s professional sports leagues in the United States.
One of the sources said Leonsis’ group had been ahead of the others for about a month.
Multiple sources, however, said a sale was not imminent. It likely wouldn’t be completed until after MLB’s winter meetings in San Diego in December, leaving the possibility the sale won’t close until 2023.
One of the main obstacles to discussions could be the uncertain status of the Mid-Atlantic Sports Network (MASN), the Orioles and the Nationals Shared Regional Sports Network.
Both teams have been embroiled in a years-long lawsuit over media rights fees, meaning any new owners would inherit a team without the ability to generate significant revenue from their own RSN, or sign a deal lucrative for its television rights. Such uncertainty could make it difficult for the Lerners and a potential new owner to agree on a sale price.
The initial hope was that the Nationals would have a new ownership group in place to be voted on this fall. Typically, it takes months for the league to review a new ownership group and the finances involved in such a large transaction.
Through a spokesperson, Nationals declined to comment. Leonsis also declined to comment through a spokesperson.
Leonsis’ group is co-led by Carlisle Group co-founder and billionaire David Rubenstein. According to Forbes magazine’s 2022 ranking, 73-year-old Rubenstein has a net worth of $3.1 billion. Forbes listed Leonsis’ net worth in 2022 at $1.6 billion.
If Leonsis’ group were to complete a purchase from the Lerners and be approved by MLB, they would become only the second person to own teams in three of the four major professional men’s sports leagues in the United States, joining the Kroenke family. The Kroenkes, in addition to owning Arsenal of the Premier League, own the NFLthe Los Angeles Rams, the NHL’s Colorado Avalanche and the NBAby Denver Nuggets. They also own Major League Soccer’s Colorado Rapids, as well as several other smaller league sports teams.
(Photo: Geoff Burke/USA Today)
Rubenstein is a DC philanthropic and humanities institution, currently serving as chairman of the boards of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, the Council on Foreign Relations, the National Gallery of Art, and the Economic Club of Washington . He also chairs the University of Chicago Board of Trustees.
Leonsis has long wanted to own a baseball team, sources said, with a previous interest in the Baltimore Orioles. The Orioles aren’t actively for sale, although many in the industry have long believed the Angelos family is open to the team that will eventually change hands.
The Lerners, who bought the Major League Baseball team in 2006 for $450 million, announced earlier this year that they were putting the team up for sale after more than 15 years of ownership, which included the first championship of the team’s World Series in 2019. The family told the Washington Post in April that they were undertaking an “exploratory process” to sell the Nats, and the Post reported in August that five potential groups had met with the Lerners and received financial information about the club.
Leonsis and the Lerners know each other well. The Lerners are minority owners of Monumental Sports and Entertainment de Leonsis – the parent company of Wizards, Caps and Mystics – which also operates Capital One Arena.
But the unresolved MASN dispute still looms as a potential roadblock to a final sale.
The Orioles currently own about three-quarters of MASN, while the Nationals own the rest, though the Nats’ share could reach as high as 33% by 2032. The disparity in the teams’ respective shares was key for Baltimore allow Washington to come to its neighboring territory, from where the Orioles drew thousands of fans every year when the Montreal Expos moved to the district in 2005. But the teams have spent years in litigation against each other. others, with the Nationals arguing that they weren’t paid a fair share for their games.
There’s no indication that selling the Nationals would change anything about their RSN status, a factor that has made the team worth much less money. An arbitration panel ruled in 2019 that the Nationals owed the Orioles $105 million, who appealed the decision to the New York Courts of Appeal. The case is currently before the New York State Court of Appeals.
Leonsis has his own RSN, NBC Sports Washington; already controlling one-third of the channel, it purchased the remaining two-thirds from NBCSW in August. At the time of the purchase, Leonsis tweeted, “This is key to our strategy to grow our one-of-a-kind sports and entertainment platform: a super-regional sports and entertainment business with multiple teams, multiple sites, multiple networks, and multiple technologies – fully integrated.
Adding the Nationals to NBCSW’s lineup along with the Wizards and Capitals would give Leonsis a powerful sports channel with live games almost year-round for fans to watch, and which could offer streaming and entertainment packages. other consumer offerings.
The chairman of the NBA’s media committee, in addition to being a huge supporter of sports betting, Leonsis is no stranger to the huge money tied to sports television, and it’s possible a resolution of the MASN dispute be a sticking point in any sale. However, there is no indication so far that this is the case.
Leonsis would inherit a substantial rebuild on the pitch. The Nationals finished one of the worst seasons in franchise history last season (a worst MLB 55-107) and traded a young superstar Juan Soto in San Diego at the trade deadline after Soto turned down a 15-year, $440 million offer from the team. The deal brought in several top-rated prospects and immediately bolstered the Nationals’ farm system, typically ranked among the worst in MLB at the start of the season. Still, the prospects for significant improvement at major league level in 2023 are dim.
The Nationals picked up options for general manager Mike Rizzo and manager Davey Martinez for the 2023 season in July.
A new owner would have to absorb some of the deferred wages that the Nationals, during the Lerners’ tenure, often chose to include in their larger contracts with star players. Additionally, pitchers Stephane Strasbourg and Patrick Corbin still owe $140 million and $59 million, respectively, for the remainder of their long-term contracts. But Washington would be poised to open up significant payroll space by 2025, when Strasbourg would be the only big-paying active player left on the books.
Leonsis bought a majority stake in the Wizards, as well as what is now Capital One Arena, from the late Abe Pollin in 2010, spending $170 million for the remaining 56% of the Wizards. He bought the Capitals from Pollin in 1999 for around $200 million, along with a 44% minority stake in the Wizards, with a future right of first refusal to buy them outright.
(Photo: Geoff Burke/USA Today Sports)