So much of the value of these franchises is in the appreciation over time. The other owners have to approves sales. Any sale that doesn't prop up the values of all the other teams is probably not going to go through.
It's possible the other owners told the Lerners that Leonsis's offer wasn't enough to get approved.
The thing I saw on the March Bleacher Report estimated the Nationals to be worth $2.16 billion. That's pretty close to what Leonsis reportedly offered.
