N.Y. State Supreme Court Judge Lawrence Marks yesterday declined to issue an immediate ruling in the MASN media rights dispute following four hours of oral arguments in a Manhattan courtroom. Attorneys for the Orioles-controlled RSN and the Orioles themselves argued for a ’14 arbitration decision from MLB’s Revenue Sharing Definitions Committee favoring the Nationals to be vacated and sent to a neutral arbitrator, while attorneys for the Nationals and league sought to have that decision affirmed. Marks did not specify an expected timetable for when he will issue his ruling, but said it would be as soon as possible. A temporary injunction issued last summer already has the internal baseball arbitration decision -- which would boost the Nationals’ annual local TV rights fee from $41M to about $60M -- on hold until Marks makes his ruling. Two of the most commonly discussed figures in arguments today -- MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred and Orioles Owner Peter Angelos -- were not present in the courtroom, but Nationals Managing Principal Owner Ted Lerner and his son-in-law, Nationals Partner Ed Cohen, were there, along with consultant Chris Bevilacqua.
BLAME GAME: MASN and the Orioles in their arguments yesterday focused heavily on the involvement of law firm Proskauer Rose and their simultaneous representation of the Nationals, MLB and several RSDC members, and what they saw as a corrosion of a fair arbitration process. The two entities also focused on arguments previously outlined in written briefs, such as a $25M advance paid by MLB to the Nationals in advance of the final outcome in the case, and the RSDC using an evaluation process inconsistent with how it rules on other clubs similarly holding equity in their local rightsholders. “If there ever was a case that requires vacature, it’s this one,” said MASN attorney Thomas Hall. MLB and the Nationals, meanwhile, argued MASN and the Orioles did not sufficiently prove any bias or taint from the involvement of Proskauer. “The suggestion of bias is predicated on innuendo,” said Nationals attorney Stephen Neuwirth.
