WASHINGTON, D.C. — On Thursday night, The Economic Club of Washington, D.C. hosted a high-profile panel titled “Inside the Owner’s Box,” but Mark Lerner, the principal owner of the Washington Nationals, was noticeably not invited per a source.
The name of the event comes from David Rubenstein’s book, “Inside the Owner’s Box” that was recently published. Rubenstein appeared on the event panel (he is both the chairman of the Economic Club as well as the owner of the regional rival Baltimore Orioles), specifically brought together with four major Washington, D.C. sports franchise owners.
While the majority owner of D.C.’s Major League Baseball team, the Lerner family, was left off the guest list, the panel featured several other prominent local sports owners:
In addition to being the principal owner of the Nationals, the Lerner family also holds a minority stake in Leonsis’s Monumental Sports & Entertainment, making Lerner’s exclusion from the city’s sports owner lineup even more conspicuous.
Prior to purchasing the Orioles, Rubenstein joined Leonsis, reportedly in advanced talks, to purchase the Washington Nationals from the Lerner family. The deal failed to cross the finish line, and Rubenstein pivoted to a purchase of the Baltimore Orioles in a deal that closed in 2024 for $1.725 billion.
This year, the Orioles grew their payroll to a team record of $166.7 million. The only problem was they finished with a 79-82 record for last place in the AL East — and as many fans said, the timing of Rubenstein’s book was an embarrassment given the failure of his team.
“Obviously, I have a long way to go because I took a team that was in first place and managed to put them in last place,” Rubenstein joked. “It’s very hard to do that.”
On top of that, this past week Rubenstein was the first baseball owner ahead of a possible CBA lockout to make some layoffs. He received widespread criticism for laying off team employees in the business office, and in the entertainment department including employees who wore the costumes of the Orioles Bird and Mr. Splash. The team later said they have other employees to fill those roles.
So while Rubenstein had a tough week with public relations, he didn’t seem to make things better with his comments at the Economic Club. Rubenstein also snubbed Lerner in the process who literally is 3.4 miles from Nationals Park to The Economic Club on K St. NW in Washington, D.C.
Photo from event social media