Author Topic: WP: Nats MASN deal renegotations will have a huge impact  (Read 204285 times)

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Offline PebbleBall

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 I think PB hit the nail on the head when he said Selig basically made the deal as a means of deferring the TV battle with Angelos, but even he couldn't have anticipated the perfect storm this has become for the Nats. 


Offline Tyler Durden

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So this has to be resolved before the season, right?  Is there any kind of deadline on this? 

Offline tomterp

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So this has to be resolved before the season, right?  Is there any kind of deadline on this?

It's already hindering the Nats in that it creates revenue uncertainty for 2013 and beyond.

Offline jhuterp

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IMO this is going to go the Nats way.....if the MLB arbitration panel was going to find for Angelos they would have done so already and told the Nats to come back in five years for the next round.  I'm guessing Angelos has been overplaying his hand in this and patience is wearing thin on the part of MLB.  I think the pressure is on Angelos to either sell and walk away w/a billion or more or lose in arbitration and carry on w/a much less profitable MASN.

Offline Mattionals

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Realistic thought, if a new network is made, would they hire out new folks or try to retain people?  I have come to like F.P. and can tolerate Bob.  Plus if they can Akra I'm killing somebody.

Offline tomterp

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Companies like Fox or Comcast can unlock a lot more value out of an RSN like MASN, so this bodes well for the Nats.

Offline Tyler Durden

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IMO this is going to go the Nats way.....if the MLB arbitration panel was going to find for Angelos they would have done so already and told the Nats to come back in five years for the next round.  I'm guessing Angelos has been overplaying his hand in this and patience is wearing thin on the part of MLB.  I think the pressure is on Angelos to either sell and walk away w/a billion or more or lose in arbitration and carry on w/a much less profitable MASN.

Good point. 

With the focus of the dispute on the 'market value' of broadcasting rights, it's in the interest of all the owners that the Nats be paid a heck of a lot more than the $34 million that Angelos is offering.  Especially on the heels of the Dodgers and other RSN deals.

Offline Tyler Durden

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Realistic thought, if a new network is made, would they hire out new folks or try to retain people?  I have come to like F.P. and can tolerate Bob.  Plus if they can Akra I'm killing somebody.

They need to pay up and get Phil Wood to a barber and buy him a new suit or two.  Mike Wallace, I'm not sure what they'll do with him.  He's probably working for free right now anyway.  Ha.

Offline Kevrock

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Realistic thought, if a new network is made, would they hire out new folks or try to retain people?  I have come to like F.P. and can tolerate Bob.  Plus if they can Akra I'm killing somebody.

Seriously? Our ability to compete in the market is at stake. If we get a favorable TV deal, Sportsfan can replace Akra for all I care. 

Offline Mattionals

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Seriously? Our ability to compete in the market is at stake. If we get a favorable TV deal, Sportsfan can replace Akra for all I care.

Yes seriously.  You can oogle over SF all you want.  I want Akra.

Offline Tyler Durden

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You know what else really bothers me about this - however this ends up, Angelos will make out like a bandit.  McCourt was far worse owner and he was paid handsomely for the Dodgers.  There was basically no punishment for him acting like an ass and using the Dodgers as his personal piggy bank for as long as he held the team. 

Fox or Comcast or whoever will probably pay hundreds of millions of dollars for MASN, of which Angelos will receive 87% or whatever the ridiculous ownership percentage is right now.  And if the proposed solution of MASN being sold ends up being the actual solution, then Angelos will have done well dragging this out so long given the RSN fees being paid to teams right now.

Online HalfSmokes

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How much is masn worth if the nats have to be paid fair market?

Offline Mattionals

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You know what else really bothers me about this - however this ends up, Angelos will make out like a bandit.  McCourt was far worse owner and he was paid handsomely for the Dodgers.  There was basically no punishment for him acting like an ass and using the Dodgers as his personal piggy bank for as long as he held the team. 

Fox or Comcast or whoever will probably pay hundreds of millions of dollars for MASN, of which Angelos will receive 87% or whatever the ridiculous ownership percentage is right now.  And if the proposed solution of MASN being sold ends up being the actual solution, then Angelos will have done well dragging this out so long given the RSN fees being paid to teams right now.

He will make out like a bandit and that is just how he drew it up.  I don't deny that Angelos is a money grubbing cheap ass, but at least he knows how to make money.

This is just one less connection to Angelos if the deal goes through.  Now I'll still hate him for trying to keep DC from getting the Nats but aside from that, I don't give two s***s about what he or his team does.

Offline JCA-CrystalCity

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Just a guess - MLB may be holding up an announcement until after a deal to sell MASN is agreed to.  If there were an unacceptably high rights fee for the Nats, then it might tamp down the price Angelos can get for his share of MASN.  Too low, and the Nats get double schrod, with a low rights fee and a small percentage of MASN.  The Nats might prefer to negotiate their rights fee with the eventual buyer rather than have the with the current structure of MASN (with its commitments to comparable rights fees for the Nats and Os) tamp down what they can get.

Offline Tyler Durden

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It's not like the O's are seeing the benefits of Angelos raking it in or the MASN setup, either.  They are still signing cast-offs and has-beens.  Are they hoping for a repeat of their performance in 1 run games?  Red Sox have improved, Blue Jays have dramatically improved, Rays might be a little worse or probably about the same, Yanks are still the Yanks.  The O's bring back Nate McLouth.  Good luck with that.

I will also be glad when the Nats are no longer tied to Angelos.

Online HalfSmokes

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Just a guess - MLB may be holding up an announcement until after a deal to sell MASN is agreed to.  If there were an unacceptably high rights fee for the Nats, then it might tamp down the price Angelos can get for his share of MASN.  Too low, and the Nats get double schrod, with a low rights fee and a small percentage of MASN.  The Nats might prefer to negotiate their rights fee with the eventual buyer rather than have the with the current structure of MASN (with its commitments to comparable rights fees for the Nats and Os) tamp down what they can get.

what company would purchase MASN without knowing what the deal is- owing $500 million over 5 years vs owing $175 million (really $1 billion and $350 million with the Os match) seems like it would effect the value. I also wonder what MD going to the big 10 (ie their own RSN) and Georgetown being up in the air does to an RSN looking to move into the area. The other pro teams are locked in, so you may be looking at just baseball + some very low level college sports- that may be a tough sell to carriers. Personally, I would love it if they grabbed the remnant Big East BB + the Nats

Offline Rasta

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Just get rid of this horrendous deal.  Nothing would make me happier than never having to hear about the Nats and Angelos negotiating again.

Offline comish4lif

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IMO this is going to go the Nats way.....if the MLB arbitration panel was going to find for Angelos they would have done so already and told the Nats to come back in five years for the next round.  I'm guessing Angelos has been overplaying his hand in this and patience is wearing thin on the part of MLB.  I think the pressure is on Angelos to either sell and walk away w/a billion or more or lose in arbitration and carry on w/a much less profitable MASN.
I think this is a very solid comment. I agree, if the MLB panel and Selig were going to roll over and screw the Nats, they would have done it in June. If a reasonable compromise was available for both parties, they would have done that by now. There has to be something bigger cooking and selling MASN and splitting the rights fits that description.

It's not like the O's are seeing the benefits of Angelos raking it in or the MASN setup, either.  They are still signing cast-offs and has-beens.  Are they hoping for a repeat of their performance in 1 run games?  Red Sox have improved, Blue Jays have dramatically improved, Rays might be a little worse or probably about the same, Yanks are still the Yanks.  The O's bring back Nate McLouth.  Good luck with that.

I will also be glad when the Nats are no longer tied to Angelos.
I don't think you can say that unless you have access to the Orioles and MASN's books. Just because the O's don't have a $120M payroll, doesn't mean that Angelos is broke. He could be pocketing a ton of cash, or funneling it somewhere else.

Offline PebbleBall

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I think some people are missing a key point from the article - it sounds like MLB is trying to sell the broadcast rights, not the network. 

Quote
Allen & Co., a New York-based investment bank, is seeking buyers to acquire the two franchises’ broadcast rights from the Mid-Atlantic Sports Network, according to two people with direct knowledge of the matter who spoke on condition of anonymity.

A new owner would essentially separate MASN and Angelos from the Nationals by creating a new regional sports network.

Obviously great news for the Nationals, and it sounds to me like there's a possibility Nats games are shown on CSN or a new FSN DC, while MASN goes on as the Orioles' own network.  In that scenario, this denial could actually mean something, as in MASN isn't for sale, but the Nationals rights are:

Quote
Another individual familiar with MASN and the Orioles said the network has not been approached about a potential sale and that MASN is not for sale.

Offline NJ Ave

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Bud Selig is an evil genius. He managed to delay the payoff that was always inevitably going Angelos' way and shift the burden of that payoff to [likely] either Fox or Comcast.

It's amazing.

In the end, my guess is that the MASN agreement will be liquidated with the purchase of MASN, the Orioles will get their payoff in the form of their much larger equity share, and the Nationals will get a much larger new TV deal than the Orioles will get.

Again, this works in Angelos' favor because while the Nats will have to include annual TV licensing payments in their revenue sharing, my guess is that the $200 million or whatever that Angelos takes out of this will not be part of revenue sharing because it's "equity".

Online HalfSmokes

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I'd trade guaranteed rights fees for an equity stake in an RSN any day

Offline PebbleBall

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This is what I think - the Nationals rights will be sold to Fox, the Orioles rights will be "sold" to MASN.  The Orioles get a smaller fee, but Angelos is protected in that his network is already established in the Mid-Atlantic, while the Nats will get their money.  It's as close to win-win as they get right now.

Offline Tyler Durden

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I think some people are missing a key point from the article - it sounds like MLB is trying to sell the broadcast rights, not the network. 

Obviously great news for the Nationals, and it sounds to me like there's a possibility Nats games are shown on CSN or a new FSN DC, while MASN goes on as the Orioles' own network.  In that scenario, this denial could actually mean something, as in MASN isn't for sale, but the Nationals rights are:



That's an interesting reading of the tea leaves.  Makes sense.  Angelos gets paid off by Fox or whoever and gets his cut.  Lerners, Nats, and Angelos all win.  O's still come out on the losing end since they are still owned by Angelos and Angelos pockets MASN profits.