LOVERRO: Leonsis still in the hunt for the Nationals

Transparent Ted Leonsis hasn’t let the embarrassment of his Virginia stadium collapse keep him down.

First, he did his “I Can’t Be as Dumb as I Look” media tour to try to repair his damaged reputation, selling himself as an innocent victim of politics. 

Of the failed negotiations to move his Monumental Sports franchises from the District to Alexandria, he told Axios: “I’m a businessman … I’m not a politician.”

Never mind that Leonsis worked on the political campaigns of Paul Tsongas for Congress early in his career. Never mind he was once the mayor of a small Florida town. He was blindsided by Virginia politics.

Now, with the wind at his back from the $515 million the District is giving him to refurbish his Capital One Arena, he is spreading the word that Transparent Ted Industries is still open for business. 

He told 106.7 The Fan radio that he has not abandoned his desire to buy the Washington Nationals.

“We will make a credible and strong offer and we’ll continue speaking,” Leonsis said. “I’m very interested but there’s no rush. We all have other pursuits and businesses, and they’re not going anywhere and, obviously, I’m not going anywhere.”

When the Lerner family put the team on the market in April 2022, Leonsis had reportedly put in a bid to purchase the franchise for more than $2 billion. That wasn’t good enough for the Lerners, and in February, principal owner Mark Lerner announced they were no longer looking to sell the team.

There wasn’t a line around South Capitol Street looking to buy the team, certainly not for more than $2 billion. And the $1.725 billion the Orioles sold for earlier this year — a lower-than-expected price — won’t help the selling price of a franchise 35 miles down the road.

So the Lerners pulled back, fueled by Mark Lerner’s desire to hold onto the team. The real estate moguls, though, have operated the team like an office building with 20% occupancy, getting rid of longtime and valuable high-salaried employees and barely spending to put a competitive team on the field. 

That they have been competitive is a testament to general manager Mike Rizzo and manager Davey Martinez. 

Mark Lerner’s public promises of a financial commitment to the roster have proven hollow, and many fans might welcome a change in ownership.

But to Transparent Ted? 

He uses the word “credible,’ but his credibility took a big hit with the way he strutted and declared victory before his Potomac Yard arena deal was even financed by the state of Virginia. And it’s uncertain what his Nationals bid would look like, because one of his major partners in the original bid, David Rubenstein, was the one who spent $1.725 billion to buy the Orioles.

It’s curious that Leonsis wasn’t part of that bid. 

Bloomberg News reported in August 2022 that he and Rubenstein, while bidding for the Nationals, would also be interested in the Orioles if they were for sale. 

But when Rubenstein made the bid, Leonsis was not part of it.

Still in the way is the MASN television partnership between the Orioles and the Nationals that has essentially held Washington’s television rights hostage.

Despite a reported settlement and agreement in their dispute for rights fees from 2012 to 2021, no one in Washington has seen that money yet, according to sources — unless the Lerners are pocketing it and not telling anyone. 

They are certainly not spending it on a contract extension for C.J. Abrams yet.

Even with the hope that Rubenstein’s new ownership will result in a solution to the bitter battle between the two teams, lawyers are currently taking depositions for the revenue shared between the two teams since 2022. So MASN remains a roadblock to any sale of the Nationals. No one is going to want to buy a baseball team with uncertainty about their television revenue rights.

What may change things? Mark Lerner’s health.

Lerner, 70, was diagnosed with spindle cell sarcoma above his left knee in 2017 and his left leg was amputated. This spring, there was concern expressed within the organization about his health.

It’s not clear what happens if, for any reason, Mark Lerner cannot continue in his role as managing principal owner of the Nationals. 

I’ve asked team officials several times, to no response, if there is any succession plan in place if Mark Lerner cannot continue in the top position.

But those familiar with the organization believe that no one else in the ownership family has an interest in running the baseball team. That may change the availability of the team.

Leonsis needs the team to be available, the sooner the better. He owns a regional sports network which he just sunk $60 million into for new broadcast and production studios that no one watches, with Wizards and Capitals games garnering low ratings. 

In his 106.7 interview, Leonsis said, “We need year-round programming.”

It would be nice to have a baseball owner who thinks of the team as something more than repeat broadcasts of “Gilligan’s Island.” 

But those may be the choices — Transparent Ted or the invisible Lerners — and that choice may be made soon.

⦁ You can hear Thom Loverro on “The Kevin Sheehan Show” podcast.