668 replies to this topic

[DJ MC]

NEWS!

 

https://www.baltimor...0416-story.html

 

he Orioles-controlled Mid-Atlantic Sports Network must pay the Washington 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 familiar with the document.

 

...

 

After those and other adjustments are made, the Nationals would net somewhere between $60 million and $70 million from the decision, according to people familiar with the case.

[Nigel Tufnel]

I guess the same amount of money also has to go to the O's... not sure if running the money through the team instead of through MASN will have much of an impact, although now the money will be subject to revenue sharing, I guess.

[Nigel Tufnel]

Here's Frobby's summary:

 

the language in the contract was written in an intentionally vague way.   It provides that the rights fees are to be renegotiated every five years, and if the parties can’t agree “then the fair market value of the Rights shall be determined by the Revenue Sharing Definitions Committee (“RSDC”) using the RSDC’s established methodology for evaluating all other related party telecast agreements in the industry.”    The parties don’t agree on what that means.    The last time around, the O’s argued it meant one thing, the Nats argued it meant something else, and the RSDC decided it meant a third thing.   When the RSDC’s decision got challenged in court, the Court found the RSDC’s interpretation “reasonable on its face,” but overturned the decision due to possible bias because the Nats’ lawyers previously had represented MLB in other matters.   Now it seems that the RSDC (which has different members now than the first time) has adopted a new interpretation which is closer to what the Orioles had argued, except that the data has changed.   When the initial arbitration over the 2012-16 rights fees was held, it was unknown what the revenues of MASN would be, so the parties accepted MASN’s projections even though they were considered to be conservative.    But by now, MASN’s revenues from 2012-16 are known, so they provide a different base for setting the rights fees.    So, the result of the new decision was similar to the old one in terms of the rights fees to be paid, but the way that result was achieved was different and apparently more favorable to the Orioles when applied to future periods.   I say “apparently” because the decision isn’t public so I’m relying on somewhat sketchy information provided in the Sun article.    Perhaps more information will come out later.   

 

 

http://forum.orioles...comment-2461128

[Mark Carver]

Orioles to appeal MASN TV broadcast rights fees decision in dispute ...

[dude]

I know the chance of the Orioles allowing me to negotiate a deal (settle this permanently) is about the same as the Orioles and Marlins meeting in the WS this year, but I'd love the chance to do it.

 

How about if I can't do it, John and Lou each get to hit me with a bat.  (not in the head please, I'd like to still be part of my kids lives)

[Nigel Tufnel]

So, it looks like the RSDC ended up taking the average of the numbers using the Bortz method and what the Nats had proposed...  except the RSDC plugged different assumptions into the two methods, and after that, Bortz ended up yielding the higher fees.  Looking forward to the Nats arguing for Bortz, and the O's wanting to use the Nats method next time.

[Mike B]

The Orioles should sue MLB.

A deal is a deal.

[Nigel Tufnel]

Neither side has violated the deal, though.  There's just a disagreement over an interpretation of some of the language in the contract.  In the RSDC's decision, they said both sides' interpretations were reasonable.

 

It's a shame that the agreement didn't specify a methodology for setting the fees - not sure if that was intentional or not.

[Mike B]

The Orioles gave up a large share of their market to allow Washington and MLB to get their way.

MLB is a whore organization.  Sue them to just piss them off.  I know not the smartest move, but sometimes you have to fight.

[dude]

The Orioles gave up a large share of their market to allow Washington and MLB to get their way.

MLB is a whore organization.  Sue them to just piss them off.  I know not the smartest move, but sometimes you have to fight.

 

Except, the market is worth more with the Nationals than without them.

[McNulty]

NEW YORK — A judge has confirmed an arbitration decision from baseball executives ordering the Washington Nationals to be paid $296.8 million by the cable network they jointly own with the Baltimore Orioles for their television rights from 2012-16.

 

https://www.washingt...9055_story.html

[DJ MC]

So...time to buy some cowboy boots, I guess...

[SportsGuy]

So are we done with this now?

[mdrunning]

This ruling was from the New York Supreme Court. In New York, like Maryland, the highest authority is the Court of Appeals, and immediately below that is the appellate division. The Orioles could possibly find some basis for appeal, although I doubt they'll be successful in overturning the arbitration.

 

Plus, if I'm reading this correctly, MASN was paying Washington what they had originally proposed--$197 million--from 2012 to 2016, so the latest award, if it stands, would be be something in the neighborhood of $100 million.

[BSLChrisStoner]

MASN is expected to exercise the “reserve appeal” included in the original court ruling to send the case to the New York Court of Appeals.

According to a person with knowledge of the litigation, the Orioles retained a right to appeal, but could not exercise it until the second arbitration process was complete.

 

https://www.baltimor...2gt4-story.html

[weird-O]

Yahoo sports is reporting that the O's owe the Nats "nearly $100M" 

[Mackus]

So are we done with this now?

 

Haha.  Good one.

[Nigel Tufnel]

I wonder how the O's are going to spend their $100M.

[Mackus]

My strong suspicion is that a court-ordered $200M lump sum payment (because they have to pay both teams the same royalties) would bankrupt MASN.  Which of course is the goal of the Nationals and MLB.  

[Nigel Tufnel]

According to Frobby, interest started accruing for the first time beginning April 15, 2019, at 9% a year.  In the past, delaying was a good strategy for MASN, since it was interest free, but that might not be the case any more.  Even Bobby Bonilla is only getting 8%!