It's time for a new Teddy Ballgame.
Ted Lerner seems ready to sell the Washington Nationals, though the family may take on partners if somebody's dumb enough to part with $1 billion for the same franchise control as fans sitting in $5 seats.
It's a good time to sell the team after 16 years. The family has won a World Series, enjoyed a decade of success and may gain a potential $1.5 billion profit before needing to shell out $500 million over the coming years for superstar Juan Soto.
Already, a familiar name has surfaced as a potential buyer – Ted Leonsis. The owner of the Washington Capitals and Wizards is popular with hockey fans after a Stanley Cup championship. However, Leonsis is disliked by some Wiz fans who have seen little but heartache since the 1970s. Basketball fans feel Leonsis only loves hockey, which is ironic given he bought the Caps in 1999 as a way to also gain the Wiz in 2010.
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Leonsis is an enticing choice. He's the smartest person in the room. Those AOL CDs everyone endlessly received in the early days of the internet? That was Leonsis. He's not just two steps ahead of competitors, Leonsis is a few blocks ahead and pulling away. Some think Jeff Bezos is the greatest entrepreneur, but I'll take Leonsis. Absolutely the smartest person I've met over 44 years covering sports.
Certainly, Leonsis could market a baseball team, but that's not really the Nats' problem. Sure, attendance could be better, but baseball is still a decade away from truly embedding in Washington sports. Leonsis has the money, so it won't be run cheaply and probably gets a name on the stadium that is surprisingly old school as Nationals Park.
But there's one caveat – do we really want one person controlling three of the big four major pro teams in town while Dan Snyder runs the Commanders into the ground? Maybe it provides crossover benefits, though many Caps and Wiz fans are also Nats backers. so there's not much to gain there. Triple season tickets for a discount, maybe?
Could one owner make it harder on average fans by controlling three sports? An interesting deep discussion.
Monopoly is the only hesitation should Leonsis seek the Nats. But, balance that with someone Washingtonians know well. Bezos' name always comes up for sports team ownership given his great wealth, but the Amazon founder has never made a move. And, he would probably be an investor and absentee owner given his immense empire. That seldom works well.
Certainly, the Lerners will have no lack of interested buyers, including many out-of-towners. Hopefully, they'll sell to the best candidate and not simply the richest offer.
Rick Snider has covered Washington sports since 1978. Follow him on Twitter: @Snide_Remarks.
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