![\"Washington](\"https:\/\/media.washtimes.com\/media\/image\/2023\/02\/01\/Orioles-Nationals-TV_Dispute_Baseball_40835.jpg\")
<\/p>\nThe Washington Nationals will be free to leave the Mid-Atlantic Sports Network and seek a new \u2014and almost certainly more lucrative \u2014 television deal starting in 2026 after battling for more than a decade to wrest control of the franchise\u2019s broadcast rights and revenues from an unfavorable partnership controlled by the rival Baltimore Orioles.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
MASN, the Orioles\u2019 network, will continue to broadcast Nationals games this season under a final one-year contract, according to MLB, which announced the settlement Monday.<\/p>\n
The Orioles control 77% of MASN, which has led to constant fights between the franchises over airtime and revenue. The network began as a way to pacify former Orioles owner Peter Angelos, who was concerned about a new franchise moving into his region in 2005.<\/p>\n
Years of legal back-and-forth reached a tipping point in January. The Nationals sued. Washington alleged that it was owed $320 million for broadcast rights running from 2022 through 2026.<\/p>\n
An MLB committee ruled in favor of the Lerner family, which owns the Nationals, and ordered the Orioles to fork over the relevant funds.<\/p>\n
Monday\u2019s announcement appears to nullify the final year of that agreement with a one-year deal for Nationals games this season.<\/p>\n
\u201cAfter this term, the Nationals will be free to explore alternatives for their television rights for the 2026 season and beyond,\u201d the teams said in a joint statement with MLB. \u201cAs part of the settlement, all disputes related to past media rights between the Nationals, Orioles, and MASN have been resolved, and all litigation will be dismissed.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n MASN was established in March 2005 after the Montreal Expos relocated to Washington and became the Nationals, moving into what had been Baltimore\u2019s exclusive broadcast territory since 1972. The Orioles were given a supermajority partnership interest in MASN, starting at 90%, and Washington made a $75 million payment to the network for an initial 10%.<\/p>\n The agreement called for the Nationals\u2019 equity to increase 1% annually, starting after the 2009 season, with a cap of 33%. The network\u2019s rights payments to each team were set at $20 million apiece in 2005 and 2006, rising to $25 million in 2007, with $1 million annual increases through 2011.<\/p>\n After that, the network was to pay fair market value and for disputes over the Nationals rights to be resolved by MLB\u2019s Revenue Sharing Definitions Committee, a group of three MLB club officials. The RSDC started to hear the case in 2012 and lawsuits over the decision were filed two years later in New York Supreme Court.<\/p>\n Litigation over the 2012-16 fees resulted in a 2019 RSDC decision that valued them at $296.8 million. After arguments that went to the New York Court of Appeals, the sides agreed to a settlement in June 2023.<\/p>\n A 2023 RSDC decision held Washington was owed about $304.1 million by MASN for 2017-21, after an adjustment downward of almost $45.5 million for the pandemic-shortened 2020 season. That decision was confirmed in New York Supreme Court.<\/p>\n Another RSDC decision this past December had awarded the Nationals approximately $320.5 million for 2022-26. The rights fee was set at about $72.8 million each for 2022 and \u201923 \u2014 matching 2021 \u2014 and dropped to approximately $58.3 million annually from 2024-26, citing deteriorating economics of regional sports networks.<\/p>\n A court hearing on that decision had been scheduled for March 13.<\/p>\n The network\u2019s financials became more relevant in recent years as the Angelos and Lerner families explored potential sales of their teams. The Angelos family sold the Orioles to a group led by David Rubenstein for $1.725 billion last year.<\/p>\n However, the Lerners took the team off the market last spring.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The Washington Nationals will be free to leave the Mid-Atlantic Sports Network and seek a new \u2014and almost certainly more lucrative \u2014 television deal starting in 2026… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":38583,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-38582","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mlb"],"yoast_head":"\n