Ted Leonsis, owner of three Washington-based professional sports franchises, offered more than $2 billion to buy the Washington Nationals from the Lerner family late last year, according to three people with knowledge of the situation. It’s not clear whether the Lerners rejected the offer or simply did not respond to it, though one person with direct knowledge of the process said the parties have remained in touch.
The Monumental Network is a website that NBA Wizards and NHL Capitals owner Ted Leonsis is debuting this week in a search for new revenue to fund his billion-dollar media-entertainment-sports enterprise, which includes the Verizon Center and everything in it. The new site “is a precursor to a much bigger media play for us,” Leonsis said. “The long-range goal is to own our own means of distribution. The most successful sports teams right now are successful because they own their own regional sports networks.”
