Ted Leonsis group is front-runner to buy Nationals, sources say

By David Aldridge, Brittany Ghiroli and Ken Rosenthal

A group led by Washington Wizards, Capitals and Mystics owner Ted Leonsis is emerging as the clear front-runner to buy the Washington Nationals from the Lerner family, according to sources within the organization and Major League Baseball who were not authorized to speak publicly on the subject. If the 65-year-old Leonsis completes the purchase of the Nationals, he would become the second owner to currently have teams in three of the United States’ four biggest men’s professional sports leagues.

One of the sources said Leonsis’ group has been ahead of the others for the last month or so.

Multiple sources, though, said a sale is not imminent. It would not likely be completed before MLB’s Winter Meetings in San Diego in December, leaving the possibility for the sale to not be concluded until 2023.

One key holdup in the discussions may be the uncertain status of the Mid-Atlantic Sports Network (MASN), the Orioles’ and Nationals’ shared regional sports network.

The two teams have been embroiled in a years-long lawsuit over media rights fees, which means any new owner would be inheriting a team without the ability to generate significant money on its own RSN, or sign a lucrative deal for their TV rights. Such uncertainty could make it difficult for the Lerners and a prospective new owner to agree on a sale price.

The initial hope had been for the Nationals to have a new ownership group in place to be voted on this fall. Typically it takes the league months to vet a new ownership group and the financials involved in such a large transaction.

Through a spokesperson, the Nationals declined to comment. Leonsis also declined comment through a spokesperson.

Leonsis’ group is being co-piloted by Carlisle Group co-founder and billionaire David Rubenstein. According to Forbes Magazine’s 2022 rankings, Rubenstein, 73, has a net worth of $3.1 billion. Forbes listed Leonsis’ net worth in 2022 at $1.6 billion.

If Leonsis’ group was to finalize a purchase from the Lerners and be approved by MLB, he’d become only the second person to own teams in three of the four major pro men’s sports leagues in the United States, joining the Kroenke family. The Kroenkes, along with owning Arsenal of the Premier League, own the NFL’s Los Angeles Rams, the NHL’s Colorado Avalanche and the NBA’s Denver Nuggets. They also own the Colorado Rapids of Major League Soccer, along with multiple other smaller league sports teams.

(Photo: Geoff Burke / USA Today)

Rubenstein is a D.C. 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 Board at the University of Chicago.

Leonsis has long had interest in owning a baseball team, sources said, with previous interest in the Baltimore Orioles….