Nationals Sale No Longer Being Explored by Lerner Family Ahead of 2024 MLB Season

The Lerner family is no longer considering a sale of the Washington Nationals.

"We have determined, our family has determined, that we are not going to sell the team," managing principal owner Mark Lerner told Andrew Golden of the Washington Post on Monday.

He added that the decision came "a while ago."

Reports first emerged in April 2022 that the Lerner family was looking to sell, which was described as an "exploratory process" with "no set timetable or expectation of a specific outcome," though such plans were put on pause once the 2023 season commenced.

The Lerners reportedly were looking for more than the $2.4 billion that Steve Cohen paid to acquire the New York Mets in 2020 and potentially even received a $2 billion offer from Washington Capitals and Wizards owner Ted Leonis.

That would have been quite the return on investment from the $450 million the family paid to acquire the team in 2006.

One hiccup with a potential Leonis' ownership was that he also owns the Monumental Sports Network and potentially would prefer to move Nationals' broadcasts to that channel if he bought the team.

Meanwhile, one of the issues that appeared to be holding up a potential sale for the Nationals was that the team and the Baltimore Orioles were previously disputing how much money each was owed for its Mid-Atlantic Sports Network media rights deal between 2017-21. In December, the two sides agreed with MLB arbitration that suggested each should receive $304 million in total or an average of $61 million per year.

Up next will be the Nationals, Orioles and MASN determining the media rights deal for the period between the 2022-26 seasons. It's unclear if that jammed up a potential sale in any way, though Lerner indicated on Monday that the family's decision to keep the team hadn't been influenced by any recent developments.

"Nothing has really changed," he said. "We've just decided that it's not the time or the place for it. We're very happy owning the team and bringing us back a ring one day."

So the Nationals—mired in a rebuild since winning the World Series in 2019—will remain with the Lerners for now. It remains to be seen if the family will eventually get the itch to sell the team in the future.