Billionaire Ted Leonsis is ‘the frontrunner to buy MLB’s Nationals worth $2b’ and join Stan Kroenke as the only team owners with clubs in three of the four major US leagues
Ted Leonsis is reportedly the front runner to buy Major League Baseball’s Washington Nationals from the Lerner family, adding to a sports portfolio that already includes the NBA’s Wizards, NHL’s Capitals, and WNBA’s Mystics.
The revelation was reported by The Athletic, which claims that Leonsis would become just the second owner with teams in three of four major US team sports. Stan Kroenke currently owns the Los Angeles Rams, Colorado Avalanche, and Denver Nuggets, among other sports properties.
A sale is not imminent, sources told The Athletic, and is not expected to be contested before MLB’s winter meetings in San Diego at the end of the year. There was hope that a new ownership group would be in place this fall in time for the winter meetings, but The Athletic is reporting that it did not come to fruition.
Ted Leonsis (pictured) is reportedly the front runner to buy Major League Baseball’s Washington Nationals from the Lerner family, adding to a sports portfolio that already includes the NBA’s Wizards, NHL’s Capitals, and WNBA’s Mystics
If he does buy the Nationals, Leonsis (near left, alongside Capitals star Alex Ovechkin) would become just the second owner with teams in three of four major US team sports. Stan Kroenke (near right, alongside NFL receiver Odell Beckham Jr.) currently owns the Los Angeles Rams, Colorado Avalanche, and Denver Nuggets.
Leonsis, 65, and the Nationals both declined to comment to The Athletic.
One potential obstacle is a regional cable channel, the Mid-Atlantic Sports Network, which is currently shared by the Nationals and Baltimore Orioles. The teams are entangled in an ongoing legal battle over media rights fees – a standoff that could prevent a new Nationals owner from signing a new media deal with a local network.
Leonsis, a former America Online executive and film producer, previously had interest in buying the Orioles, according to The Athletic. Now, along with by Carlisle Group co-founder and billionaire David Rubenstein, Leonsis is hoping to buy a Nationals franchise that sold to the Lerners for $450 million in 2006.
In March, the Nationals were valued at $2 billion, according to Forbes, which ranked the club 12th out of 30 MLB teams.
The Lerners announced earlier this year that they would be selling the team after 15 seasons. The Nationals originated in Montreal in 1969 as the Expos before moving to Washington in 2005.
Leonsis is worth $1.6 billion, according to Forbes.
In March, the Nationals were valued at $2 billion, according to Forbes, which ranked the club 12th out of 30 MLB teams
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