MASN's upcoming trial in New York Supreme Court in its media rights dispute with MLB and the Nationals has been postponed from Dec. 15 to March following a significant discovery battle within the case. The Orioles-controlled RSN has filed a large batch of documents seeking discovery to explore the specific role of league COO & Commissioner-elect Rob Manfred in the dispute. Manfred in an affidavit last month said the MLB Revenue Sharing Definitions Committee that ruled earlier this year in favor of the Nationals "exercised their independent judgment, and the RSDC's decisions are not controlled or determined" by any other league entity. Manfred additionally affirmed he merely played a "support role" to the RSDC.
The new MASN documents conversely claim Manfred "functioned not only as the exclusive gatekeeper between the parties and the RSDC panel, but as either a fourth arbitrator or even a 'super arbitrator' that controlled all communications between the parties, made procedural and substantive decisions and rulings in the arbitrators' names, and actively participated in the arbitration hearing." The discovery requests from MASN include a variety of documents related to the RSDC, particularly Manfred's communications with the team owner-led group.
The Dec. 15 court date that had been slated for oral arguments in the case will now be used instead to hear MASN's motion for the discovery. The move by MASN represents an attack on the league's central defense in this case, that the RSDC acted separately from any MLB influence. MASN's filing reads in part, "MLB's opposing papers have placed the independence of the arbitrators from MLB squarely at issue."
