The Nationals are expected to receive between $60-70M from the net due to profit margin adjustmentsGETTY IMAGES
The Orioles-controlled MASN must pay the Nationals "tens of millions of dollars more in broadcast rights fees from previous years -- a hit to the Baltimore team -- under an arbitration panel's sealed ruling," according to sources cited by Jeff Barker of the BALTIMORE SUN. Sources said that the MLB committee decision "awards the Nationals" nearly $100M -- about $20M per year -- in "additional fees" for '12-16. The decision "effectively slashes the profit margin of MASN, which is largely owned by the Orioles but broadcasts both teams' games." The Nationals "won’t actually receive" $100M, as MASN "must restate its financial results for those five years, reducing its profit in order to pay the higher TV rights fees." The "more money MASN pays in rights fees, the less it has available for profits." Sources said that the Nationals "would net" somewhere between $60-70M from the decision. It was uncertain Friday whether MASN -- which is owned 79% by the Orioles and 21% by the Nationals -- would "appeal the arbitration panel’s decision to the courts." This decision "marked the second time a panel composed of club owners or executives had ruled on how much MASN must pay the Nationals in rights fees." In June '14, the first panel awarded the Nationals about $60M per year in "TV rights fees from MASN" (BALTIMORE SUN, 5/4).
GETTING INVOLVED: The SUN's Barker noted Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan wrote to MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred last year "expressing concern about the effect of the lingering television rights fee dispute" between the Orioles and Nationals, and offered to "help broker an agreement." He said that the dispute was "holding up serious discussions of a new lease between the Orioles and the Maryland Stadium Authority for Oriole Park at Camden Yards." The club's lease is due to expire at the end of '21, though the Orioles "have the option to extend it for five years." Manfred "replied the next month in a letter" to Hogan. He said he also wanted a "quick resolution of the ongoing dispute" (BALTIMORE SUN, 5/4).
