Ted Leonsis, the owner of Monumental Sports and Entertainment, announced on Tuesday that he would submit a second pay to buy the Washington Nationals from the Lerner home.
Leonsis—who owns the NHL’s Capital, NBA’s Magicians and WNBA’s Mystics—was asked to confirm the amount of his first offer and how much would it take to get the baseball team this time.
” I do n’t know”, Leonsis said. The group is not for sale, according to the statement. We’re partners with the Lerners, and we have nothing but pleasant, about a ‘ huggy, kissy’ form of connection. They’re businesspeople, we’re businesspeople. But we will create a reliable and robust provide, and we’ll continue speaking”.
The Lerners are also majority shareholders in Monumental. Leonsis said there is no need to rush a deal because both groups have additional things to do. ” They’re not going anywhere, and naturally as we talked next day, I’m not going somewhere, either”.
Leonsis has stated in full that he wants to put a baseball staff to the profile. During Sportico’s Participate in Sports Conference last October, he said,” I am no shy to say I want to say to buy a sports team. I love the sport”.
Leonsis ‘ focus was much more personal than the Baltimore Orioles, despite the fact that the team was also on the market at the time. ” If you are not in Virginia or D. C., I am not interested in your team”, he said.
The Lerner home, led by managing director owner Mark Lerner, has put the crew on the market a few times, most recently in 2022 when it asked Allen &, Co. to handle the marketplace of potential buyers. Yet, despite attention from Leonsis and private equity mogul David Rubenstein, the Lerners took the Citizens off the market in late February.
Immediately before Opening Day, MLB approved a price of the Orioles to a team led by Rubenstein, a Baltimore local, after the death of O’s user Peter Angelos.
The intricate arrangement of MASN, or the Mid-Atlantic Sports Network, which is co-owned by both Beltway teams, is one of the obstacles to a Nationals selling. The O’s command the obligations the Braves receive from the channel, despite the fact that the Nationals possess the remaining shares and the Orioles personal two-thirds of MASN. Some of those disputes have been resolved by judges, but Leonsis possession might ease all of his worries by bringing the Citizens into the RSN he owns and runs for his teams.
To reiterate his words, Leonsis is n’t going anywhere soon. After a recent press to construct an entertainment and sports advanced in Alexandria, Virginia, which would have included a new market for the Capitals and Wizards, his NBA and NHL teams will continue playing at Capital One Arena in D.C. right. State and local officials canceled the agreement despite a handshake with Virginia governor. Glenn Youngkin. A deal reached between Leonardsis and D.C. mayor Muriel Bowser’s administration includes$ 515 million in public funds to renovate Capital One Arena and increase the police presence in the area during games and events.
The former Montreal Expos moved to D. C. in 2005 and became the Nationals. After two seasons at RFK Stadium, the team moved to their new digs on the Anacostia River, Nationals Park, in 2007. The Nationals have experienced more valleys than peaks in their nearly 20 years of existence in D.C. The franchise is 14th on Sportico’s most recent MLB valuations list, with a one-percentage-point increase in value but a two-spot decline in rank compared to 2023.