Latest news with #Orioles-owned
New York Times
03-03-2025
- Business
- New York Times
Orioles, Nationals resolve longstanding MASN TV dispute
Perhaps the greatest bout of infighting among Major League Baseball owners this century appears to be over. The league's central office said Monday that the Baltimore Orioles and Washington Nationals have settled their media-rights disputes, ending a drama that has been in court for a decade and ultimately reaches back 20 years, to when the Nationals moved to Washington D.C. in 2005. Advertisement As part of the settlement, the Nationals will remain on the Orioles-owned regional sports network MASN (Mid-Atlantic Sports Network) through this season, but will then receive full control over their TV rights for the first time since they arrived in Washington. The Nats 'are free to explore alternatives for their television rights for the 2026 season and beyond,' read a statement from Major League Baseball's central office Monday. 'We are excited to have this longstanding issue resolved and look forward to the season ahead,' Orioles owner David Rubenstein said in a statement. The Nationals declined to comment. Financial terms of the arrangement were not released. The Nats were for sale in recent years, although owner Mark Lerner last spring said his family had decided not to sell. If the family goes down that road again, the team's exit from the MASN relationship should help. But the Nats' TV rights are also not worth as much as they were in the past. By settling now, the teams and the league can avoid further fighting in public — in the view of potential broadcasting partners — over just how much the worth of those rights have fallen. TV rights are a particularly sensitive topic for baseball owners. The worth of most club's rights has dipped in recent years amidst cord-cutting. However, Rob Manfred, the league's commissioner, believes the value will increase if the league can reach new deals with streaming companies in coming years. When the Nationals arrived in D.C. two decades ago from Montreal (where they were known as the Expos), the Orioles were the incumbent team in the region and objected to the sale, arguing the Nats would harm them financially. To 'protect the Orioles from any adverse effects caused by the relocation,' as MLB once described it, the Nats would be broadcast by the Orioles-owned TV network. Advertisement The Orioles' stake in MASN was 90 percent at the outset, with 10 percent going to the Nationals. Over time, the Nats' stake was to increase to a maximum of 33 percent by 2032. But the Orioles ultimately controlled the network, and the Nationals believed the rights fees MASN wanted to pay were not fair-market value. MLB tried to handle the matter internally, through internal arbitration proceedings which included a 'Revenue Sharing Definitions Committee,' made up of representatives from three different teams. The RSDC in June 2014 found the rights were worth an average of $59.6 million. Commissioner Bud Selig, half a year from retirement at the time, reiterated to teams that he did not want the matter reaching the courts, threatening punishment under baseball's constitution. MASN and the Orioles nonetheless brought the matter to court. They took issue with a law firm MLB was using, Proskauer Rose, which was also advising the Nationals as well as the three teams on the RSDC: the Tampa Bay Rays, Pittsburgh Pirates, and New York Mets. A second arbitration proceeding was held in 2018, this time without Proskauer and with three new teams on the RSDC: the Milwaukee Brewers, Seattle Mariners, and Toronto Blue Jays. A new commissioner, Manfred, was in place as well. A few months later, in 2019, the RSDC reached virtually the same conclusion: the rights for 2012-16 were worth an average of $59.4 million. The court battle continued into 2023, when the Orioles and MASN agreed they owed the Nats about $100 million for 2012-16. But the rights fees MASN owed the Nats for 2017-21 (valued by the RSDC at $70 million annually) and the fees for 2022-26 (valued at $64 million annually) have also gone to court, and more wrangling awaited without Monday's news. 'As part of the settlement, all disputes related to past media rights between the Nationals, Orioles, and MASN have been resolved, and all litigation will be dismissed,' the league said in its news release. Advertisement The RSDC in 2023 and 2024 was composed of Mark Attanasio of the Brewers, Dick Monfort of the Colorado Rockies and Tom Werner of the Boston Red Sox, per court filings. Both Baltimore and Washington are run by different people than they were when the dispute started. Rubenstein bought the team from the Angelos family last year. Ted Lerner, Mark's father, died in 2023. The league itself owned the Nats when they moved from Montreal, selling to the Lerners in 2006.
CNN
03-03-2025
- Business
- CNN
Lengthy dispute between Washington Nationals and Baltimore Orioles over TV rights fees finally ends
Major League Baseball announced Monday the end of a long-running saga over the Washington Nationals' television rights between the 20-year-old DC team and the nearby Baltimore Orioles. 'For the 2025 season, Washington Nationals games will continue to be televised locally exclusively by the Mid-Atlantic Sports Network (MASN) under a new, one-year contract,' the league said in a statement. 'After this term, the Nationals will be free to explore alternatives for their television rights for the 2026 season and beyond. As part of the settlement, all disputes related to past media rights between the Nationals, Orioles, and MASN have been resolved, and all litigation will be dismissed.' No financial agreements were made public in Monday's announcement. The announcement puts an end to a dispute that has existed as long as the Nationals themselves. When Washington, DC, was announced as the new home of the then-Montreal Expos franchise, the Baltimore Orioles were confronted with a new team moving in on territory that had largely belonged to Baltimore since the Washington Senators moved to Texas in the early 1970s. As part of the concessions to the Orioles, the Nationals' TV rights were awarded to the Orioles-owned TV network that became Mid-Atlantic Sports Network (MASN). MASN would then pay the Nationals a fee for those rights in five-year increments, according to the agreement. But those payments would become the source of litigation and spats between the two franchises. Disagreements over the value of Nationals' TV rights have largely been ongoing since 2012. The complicated TV rights situation has been cited as one of the reasons that the Lerner family-owned franchise was not able to find a buyer for the Nats when the family announced it was exploring a sale in 2022. The league said Monday that it hopes the announcement of an agreement would be an amicable end to the ordeal. 'The Nationals and Orioles extend their gratitude to Commissioner Manfred and his team at MLB for their efforts in bringing this matter to a successful conclusion,' the statement read. 'Both Clubs thank our fans for their support and look forward to continuing their partnership with MASN for the upcoming season.' The Orioles declined to comment to CNN on specific questions about the end of the dispute. 'We are excited to have this longstanding issue resolved and look forward to the season ahead,' said David Rubenstein, Baltimore principal owner and team control person, in a statement. The end of the relationship between the Nationals and MASN could mean a new influx of cash into the Washington franchise, which has dramatically cut back on spending since its World Series victory in 2019. The regional sports network run by Washington Wizards and Capitals owner Ted Leonsis, Monumental Sports Network, is expected to be a potential top bidder for the 2026 season and beyond. The Nationals did not immediately respond to follow-up questions from CNN.
