Ted Leonsis/Orioles? (UNFOUNDED RUMOR)

[FarmSystem]

Somebody named Davidson owns the Pistons according to Wikipedia. Illitch might be a minority owner though.

[sbauer]

White Sox owner also owns the Bulls and is interested in owning an NHL team. He owned the White Sox first, though.

[sbauer]

Somebody named Davidson owns the Pistons according to Wikipedia. Illitch might be a minority owner though.

He doesn't currently own them. He wants to own them. He came out this year and said he has interest in purchasing the team.

[TonySoprano]

Obviously, the two of them are planning a coup to oust Dan Snyder.

G-G-G-Greek Power!!!!

The estate of late owner Jack Kent Cooke is selling the team and the 80,116-seat Jack Kent Cooke Stadium in a Washington suburb for a price expected to top $500 million. A deadline of Nov. 23 has been set for initial bids.

As many as 10 investor groups could bid, including New York real estate and banking baron Howard Milstein; Daniel Snyder, the 33-year-old founder of a Maryland communications company; and John Kent Cooke, president of the Redskins and son of the late owner. To that list, add Angelos, a shrewd trial lawyer from East Baltimore who made his fortune extracting rich settlements on behalf of shipyard workers exposed to asbestos. That underwrote his purchase of the Orioles in 1993 for $173 million, then a record for a ball club.

''If he owned the Redskins, I believe it would help him block a baseball team in the metropolitan Washington area,'' says Thomas V. ''Mike'' Miller Jr., president of the Maryland state senate and a longtime Redskins season-ticket holder. ''He'd have an inordinate amount of influence. Fact is, he'd be king of the franchises in the Washington region.''

In fact, Angelos' bid faces obstacles. NFL rules bar ''cross-ownership'': Controlling owners can't acquire teams in other pro leagues. One exception is for owners seeking more teams in the same market. Angelos contends that the Orioles and Redskins are in the same market. The league disagrees. But if Angelos knows how to do anything, it's negotiate.

Source - Business Week, Nov. 19, 1998

[allstar1579]

Doesn't MLB currently frown on owners with other teams?

No, that's the NFL.

[lovetoaster]

Joe B is the man! No reason not to keep him on play by play. Thorn butchers enough names/facts/happenings in baseball can't even imagine how bad he'd be with hockey.

Actually Thorne is great with hockey, I think he is one of the best. There is probably nothing to this, but if something were to come to pass, I would rather stick with Joe B., he is top notch as well. The team of he and Laughlin is fantastic.

[carolinaoriole]

If Leonsis owned MASN' date=' that would be a death-blow to CSN, since I'm sure he'd want the Capitals/Wizards on his network as soon as the contract with Comcast ends. Without those two teams, what does CSN have that would keep it in business?[/quote']

Perhaps Angelos was doing a little MASN business and trying to lure those teams to his cable network.

[ScottieBaseball]

Has anyone heard a rumor that Ted Leonsis is thinking of purchasing the Baltimore Orioles. Peter Angelos was at the Washington Capitals game a couple of nights ago as Leonsis' personal guest. For those that don't know he owns the Washington Capitals (NHL), Washington Wizards (NBA) and Washington Mystics (WNBA) although I think most people know this.

If this is true, what are your thoughts?

My thoughts? I hate wild, loose speculation.

Angelos was a guest of Leonsis, so that might possibly maybe could mean that maybe possibly Peter Angelos is going to sell the O's to Leonsis? It's great fodder for conversation, but threads like this drag down this message board's credibility a little.

[ScottieBaseball]

I'm not sure if there is any substance at all to this rumor...it doesn't appear there is at this point. But things are slow... I will say this, a few years back I was following the Caps a bit (never got into it like baseball), and I emailed the guy with my thoughts on a trade that was being rumored ( I must've had a lot of spare time back then), and to my amazement the guy emailed me back. It was a few paragraphs long, and obviously not just a generic response due to his tackling of specific issues in my email. Regardless, it was a positive experience from a fan perspective. I can't even get the GM of the Baysox to respond to my questions.

I won't elaborate but I can't say I'm surprised.

[LookinUp]

BTW, I think the speculation is pretty valid from the OP. I mean, maybe I'm just REALLY WANTING THIS TO HAPPEN but I can't imagine two sports owners getting together and just talking about the weather.

Well, since we're blindly speculating, here's my best guess...they're talking about future TV rights. MASN is trying to get the Wiz and Caps.

Also, after reading some of the comments I will further jump to conclusions, maybe Ted is thinking of purchasing the Orioles, maybe some share in MASN. Sounds like his deals with Comcast Sports Net are nearing an end. Maybe he will start his own network and was simply looking for advice, at any rate it seemed pretty cool that two owners on opposite sides of the beltway could join in for a little fun a sporting event.

I'd wager that the only way Leonsis would get a majority share of MASN would be if he bought the O's, but that's just too good to be true.

I wish he'd bully Snyder into selling him the Skins. He really is a great owner. This thread reminds me of a thread I started a couple of years ago, which I cannot find here. The substance is at this link though. Awesome read.

http://www.hogshaven.com/2009/2/26/772915/ted-leonsis-shares-his-ten

[aggie]

I was in a movie theater watching "Alice in Wonderland" and a few rows in front of me I saw the Easter Bunny talking to Santa Claus. Just sayin'...........

So who is buying the O's? The Easter Bunny or Santa Clause? I can't keep them straight

[olehippi]

Joe B is the man! No reason not to keep him on play by play. Thorn butchers enough names/facts/happenings in baseball can't even imagine how bad he'd be with hockey.

Don't know why, but Thorne is infinitely better announcing hockey than he is baseball. A better understanding of the hockey perhaps....dunno....but he sure butchers baseball.

[olehippi]

+1

Even under the best-case scenario' date=' Angelos would do nothing more right now than sell a minority share of the O's, with [b']maybe[/b] the stipulation that Leonsis would have first-rights to purchase Angelos' majority share, either when he chooses to sell or upon his passing.

But what about Cal? I wonder if Leonsis would consider including him in an ownership group as has been discussed with other possible buyers.

[olehippi]

So who is buying the O's? The Easter Bunny or Santa Clause? I can't keep them straight

An elf sitting beside me said the Tooth Fairy had the inside track....

[neon2lsohc]

For a minute there, I thought we were talking about the guy from The 300.