MLB and the Nationals, in new court filings with the N.Y. Supreme Court, said the Orioles-controlled MASN is overreaching in its ongoing lawsuit to vacate a league ruling in favor of the DC club. The latest documents, filed in advance of a scheduled May 18 trial, contend MASN is stalling to prevent a Revenue Sharing Definitions Committee award in favor of the Nationals from taking effect. "MASN and the Orioles have doubled down on their efforts to undermine enforcement of the Telecast Agreement by arguing that this court should not only vacate the RSDC award but also order that the dispute be remanded to an arbitration tribunal other than than RSDC," the Nationals' reply document reads in part. "But ... no legal or factual basis exists for this court to reform the agreement to allow arbitration elsewhere." MASN is contending the RSDC award for the Nationals was compromised by numerous legal representations by Proskauer involving the club, MLB and numerous entities connected to the arbitrators, as well as a $25M advance provided by MLB to the Nationals. The new documents contend both claims are overstated.
MANFRED DOWNPLAYS FAVORITISM CLAIMS: MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred in a new affidavit said, "To suggest, as MASN and the Orioles have in this litigation, that MLB staff ever would favor the Nationals over the Orioles because the former was represented by Proskauer is baseless and ignores the realities of operating a sports league." That statement, filed with the court earlier this week, also represents one of the first legal documents from Manfred in his new role as commissioner. MASN attorneys called the arguments from the league and Nationals unsupported. "MLB's arguments are contradicted by the facts and contemporaneous documents, particularly those of Mr. Manfred," said Thomas Hall, a lawyer with Chadbourne & Parke representing MASN. "Proskauer's scores of representations while also representing the Nationals, former Commissioner Selig and the arbitrators is documented and irrefutable." The RSDC last year ruled to increase the Nationals' annual rights fee payments in the MASN partnership from $41M to about $60M. The latest legal documents also further outline a variety of settlement discussions over the past two years that at various points contemplated an acceleration of the Nationals' equity in MASN and a potential sale of the network to Comcast. Those deals ultimately did not happen.
