Did the Baltimore Orioles nearly have a different owner?
Billionaire David Rubenstein bought the Orioles from the Angelos family for an astronomical $1.725 billion in early 2024. The move ended years of angst for Orioles fans who were upset at the Angelos family’s penny-pinching ways.
The Orioles are a young-and-upcoming team, making the playoffs the last two seasons, including capturing the AL East crown in 2023.
However, before Rubenstein and his group took over the Orioles, there was another billionaire who had his sights set on the franchise.
The Washington Post reported that Ted Leonsis, the owner of the NBA’s Washington Wizards and NHL’s Washington Capitals, “explored buying” the Orioles before they were sold to Rubenstein.
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Ted Leonsis still interested in the Washington Nationals
Despite losing out on the Orioles, Leonsis is still interested in acquiring a baseball team — the Washington Nationals.
Leonsis purchased NBC Sports Washington in 2022 and renamed it Monumental Sports Network, and if he was able to acquire the Nationals, he would be able to have year-round baseball programming.
The Nationals have essentially fallen off a cliff after winning the 2019 World Series. They have lost more than 90 games the last four seasons, including 107 in 2022, when they sent superstar Juan Soto to the San Diego Padres at the trade deadline. However, the Nationals have a bright future with top prospects James Wood and Dylan Crews in the fold, and young stars like C.J. Abrams, Keibert Ruiz, and Mackenzie Gore.
Leonsis told The Washington Post that if he owned the Nationals, the team would be more successful.
“If you have a really, really successful business — a billion-dollar business — you can make the investments, and you choose the priorities,” Leonsis explained to The Washington Post. “My priority would be, we will never lose a great player for money. We have those resources. Look at who the Nationals have lost, MVP-quality players, in their prime, young. I understand why — they’re rebuilding the team, and they’ll be really good soon. But that hurts the fans. … If we owned the Nationals, we would have the resources to not have that happen, if that’s what the GM says.”
But Leonsis might have to wait for his chance. The Lerner family, which owns the Nationals, said early in the year they were no longer looking to sell the team.
According to The Washington Post, Leonsis has indicated to the Lerners that he’s ready, willing, and able.
“I have a lot of respect for that family,” he told the news outlet. “I put myself in their shoes: Do they want to sell? When do they want to sell? How do they want to sell? I can’t make them. So I’m being very respectful to them. That’s the right way to do it.
“We’re the most likely buyers. But it might not work.”
Related: More fuel added to Nationals and Juan Soto reunion rumors in MLB free agency this winter