Last summer, following Ted Leonsis’ purchase of NBC Sports Washington, we wondered if Leonsis and his Monumental Sports & Entertainment could save the Washington Nationals from their MASN nightmare.
At the time, the Nationals were up for sale, though little progress has been made on that front in the months since. Leonsis was an interested buyer, and the Washington Post reported on Wednesday that he offered over $2 billion for the team last year. Nothing came of the offer, and the Nationals still haven’t been sold.
Back in January, the Post also reported that the legal wrangling surrounding MASN was holding up a sale.
But the Post’s story also contains an interesting nugget related to the Leonsis offer. In addition to buying the team, Leonsis reportedly attempted to buy MASN, the RSN that airs the Nationals, from the Orioles.
Leonsis also expressed interest in buying MASN late last year, according to two people with direct knowledge of the situation who said the Orioles told him the network was not for sale. A MASN spokesman did not reply to a request to comment.
MASN also airs Orioles games.
Back in August, when Leonsis’ interest in the Nationals was reported, it was rumored that he could also attempt to buy out the Nationals’ rights deal with MASN. Completely buying the RSN would be a more expensive proposition, but would achieve the same overall goal.
MASN and the Nationals have been in court for years now, related to rights payments to the team. In September of 2020, an appeals court upheld a ruling in favor of the Nationals, which the Orioles planned to appeal. That was the final update on the situation.
As we, and many others, have said numerous times, the dispute about MASN and the Nationals’ rights fees will need to be rectified either before or during the team’s sale process. If Leonsis is able to complete a purchase of both team and RSN, he would be the premier sports figure in the DC region. He and his Monumental Sports & Entertainment would own the Capitals, Nationals, and Wizards, along with both the soon to be rebranded NBC Sports Washington and MASN.
