Ted Leonsis has invested heavily into the regional sports network model that many view as crumbling, and a recent report claims the Washington Wizards, Capitals, and Mystics owner was looking to nab another RSN in the process of acquiring another team.
Late last year, Leonsis offered to purchase the Washington Nationals for $2 billion. The Lerner Family announced they were exploring a sale of the Major League Baseball franchise last year before patriarch Ted died at the age of 97 in February. After his death, many remain interested in what the next step is for a potential sale. Five separate entities had reportedly met with the family before Ted Lerner’s passing.
A report from The Washington Post’s Chelsea Janes says that Leonsis “also expressed interest in buying MASN late last year, according to two people with direct knowledge of the situation”. Those same sources also told Janes that the network “was not for sale”. She added that a MASN spokesman “did not reply to a request to comment”.
Leonsis was hoping to add the Orioles’ television rights to his network with the aim of creating a “D.C. area super network”, the report continued.
In an agreement to allow the Nationals to move to Washington D.C. in 2005, the Baltimore Orioles were awarded the local television rights to the Nationals in perpetuity. In return, the Orioles are required to pay the Nationals “fair market value” for the television rights, with that value being reassessed every five years. The meetings have been quite contentious, with the current squabble between the two clubs landing in a New York state court.
Monumental Sports & Entertainment — the company owned by Leonsis — completed a full takeover of the NBC Sports Washington regional sports network from NBCUniversal last September. The company had previously owned a 33% stake in the cable channel but purchased the remainder of the company to unify its television rights for the professional sports teams it currently owns.
A rebrand from the current NBC Sports Washington branding is expected before next season’s NBA and NHL campaigns kick off.
