WP: Nats MASN deal renegotations will have a huge impact

[natinthehat]

Would this allow me to get the MASN feed or do they pick one of the two?

They have both feeds, you pick.  So yes you can get MASN.

[PowerBoater69]

They have both feeds, you pick.  So yes you can get MASN.

Cool, my uncle has this so I'll ask him to check it out.

[Tyler Durden]

It's been a few weeks since there has been any news on this that I've seen.  Looks like it will drag on into the offseason.  Hopefully it doesn't impact offseason plans too much.

[jhuterp]

One column said it might be resolved at the owner's meeting this month which I think is around the 16th....not holding my breath.

[HalfSmokes]

The Os writer claimed it was just applying a formula, so maybe this means he was full of crap

[jhuterp]

The Os writer claimed it was just applying a formula, so maybe this means he was full of crap

You would think if that were the case there would be no issue which makes me think he was full of crap.  Not sure how the "forumla" works versus the language that requires a market price be paid for the fees....

[Kevrock]

Crap expert here, he's definitely full of crap.

[comish4lif]

Crap expert here, he's definitely full of crap.

Yeah, why didn't we rip him a new one in the comments section?

[JCA-CrystalCity]

Yeah, why didn't we rip him a new one in the comments section?

because we are mild mannered and passive.

[sloanxavier]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/nationals/washington-nationals-baltimore-orioles-split-over-masn-cable-tv-rights-fee/2012/08/14/2e91845e-d810-11e1-b8ce-16e9caa8b86a_story.html

I think I read someplace that this will hopefully be settled by the owner's meeting on Aug. 16th but as we all know, deadlines mean nothing when it comes to this issue.

[Tyler Durden]

ESPN signs a new broadcasting deal with MLB - 8 years and $5.6 billion. 

http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/2012/08/28/espn-signs-an-eight-year-5-6-billion-deal-to-keep-baseball/

http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/2012/08/28/the-new-tv-deals-are-going-to-be-a-windfall-of-all-30-teams/

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Beginning in 2014, ESPN’s annual payment for MLB rights will jump from around $306 million to $700 million a year. Meaning that the annual payment to each team will jump from just over $10 million to around $23 million.  That’s $13 million more in each team’s pocket per year starting in 2014, though the ESPN deal alone.

Now, figure that there will be at least similar and perhaps greater proportional annual bumps for the deals currently held by Fox and TBS. Which are bigger money overall given that they include the playoffs. And that’s assuming that baseball and their would-be network partners don’t get creative and add in a new broadcast product of some kind.  Figure then, what, $25 million more a year on top of the ESPN bump?  $40 million?  With numbers going they way they’re going right now, it’s entirely possible. The upshot of all of this means that, without doing a single thing, each major league team is looking at an increased cash payment of, at minimum, $40 million. Probably much more. Just for the national TV rights increase.
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Seems like MASN is fighting a losing battle if the market rate for broadcasting rights keeps going up and up.

[mitlen]

Seems like MASN is fighting a losing battle if the market rate for broadcasting rights keeps going up and up.

Never underestimate the crapaud.

[hammondsnats]

ESPN signs a new broadcasting deal with MLB - 8 years and $5.6 billion. 

damnit

[NatsDad14]

Based on this, we had the worst ratings in baseball in 2011:

http://www.sportsbusinessdaily.com/Journal/Issues/2011/10/03/Media/MLB-RSNs.aspx

Team    RSN    2011 No. of households (Change^)
New York Yankees    YES    319,000 (-5.3%)
Philadelphia    CSN    276,000 (+16.0%)
Boston    NESN    192,000 (+34.3%)
New York Mets    SportsNet NY    163,000 (-19.3%)
San Francisco    CSN Bay Area    127,000 (+23.3%)
Bottom 6         
Houston    FS Houston    33,000 (-38.9%)
Kansas City    FS Kansas City    33,000 (+37.5%)
Florida    FS Florida    32,000 (-25.6%)
Baltimore    MASN/MASN2    31,000 (-6.1%)
Oakland    CSN California    31,000 (+3.3%)
Washington    MASN/MASN2    29,000 (-3.3%)

[HalfSmokes]

Based on this, we had the worst ratings in baseball in 2011:

http://www.sportsbusinessdaily.com/Journal/Issues/2011/10/03/Media/MLB-RSNs.aspx

Team    RSN    2011 No. of households (Change^)
New York Yankees    YES    319,000 (-5.3%)
Philadelphia    CSN    276,000 (+16.0%)
Boston    NESN    192,000 (+34.3%)
New York Mets    SportsNet NY    163,000 (-19.3%)
San Francisco    CSN Bay Area    127,000 (+23.3%)
Bottom 6         
Houston    FS Houston    33,000 (-38.9%)
Kansas City    FS Kansas City    33,000 (+37.5%)
Florida    FS Florida    32,000 (-25.6%)
Baltimore    MASN/MASN2    31,000 (-6.1%)
Oakland    CSN California    31,000 (+3.3%)
Washington    MASN/MASN2    29,000 (-3.3%)

fortunately rights fees matter more than ratings

[welch]

I read (Post) that ratings have increased this season. Not into Mets/Fillies/Yankees/Giants tier, but improved.

[Tyler Durden]

I find it hard to believe that TV ratings numbers have gone down.

[tomterp]

I find it hard to believe that TV ratings numbers have gone down.

Who said they've gone down?

That chart was from 2011.

[nfotiu]

Interestingly enough, Monday and Wednesday games on ESPN will no longer be blacked out locally.

http://www.yardbarker.com/all_sports/articles/msn/espn_re_ups_with_mlb_for_56_billion_over_eight_years/11568310

[RobDibblesGhost]

An update - looks like we may be waiting until next year for a deal...

Nats Could Get A Bigger Piece Of MASN - 9/25 - DCRTV's hearing more from key local media sources regarding the dragged-out talks Major League Baseball is having regarding the Mid-Atlantic Sports Network and its TV rights payments to the Nationals and the Orioles. One scenario that seems to be rising to the top of the "most likely" outcomes, we're told, involves the Nationals taking an accelerated ownership percentage in MASN. Currently, the team owns 13% of the Baltimore-based regional sports network. That figure could go up to somewhere in the 40% range - much sooner than the current time frame calls for. That's a key sticking point in the talks, which were supposed to produce results in June. Now, we hear, there will be no announcement of a MASN rights deal until early next year. The Nationals are asking MASN, which is controlled by the Orioles and broadcasts both teams' games, for between $100 million and $120 million per year, at least three times the $29 million they received last season. Reportedly, MASN proposed paying $34 million this season. A new acceletated ownership deal could see the Nationals receiving somewhere near the $120 million range next year, without MASN actually cutting the team a check for that amount. And, whatever the Nationals get from the deal, the Orioles are due the same amount, according to a market sharing deal. However, we're told that the current talks could still fall apart, with MASN and the Nationals' ownership heading to court next year.....

[PowerBoater69]

Yes, yes, yes, court, that's what we want.  Open, public, court.  I want every detail aired out in a public forum.

[OldChelsea]

Yes, yes, yes, court, that's what we want.  Open, public, court.  I want every detail aired out in a public forum.

...as long as the venue isn't in Maryland - no way Angelos loses in a Maryland court.

Interesting about the possibility raised in the article in the preceding post about the Nats' stake going up to 40% - I don't think it was ever meant to get that high under the original agreement.

Still want full divestiture - an Orioles network for the Orioles, and a Nats network for the Nats. (The Orioles' current success is financed in part with telly money that, morally if not legally, rightly belongs to the Nats.)

[HalfSmokes]

40% seems designed to screw the Os by paying the Nats market rate without having to give the same amount to the Os.

[KnorrForYourMoney]

fortunately rights fees matter more than ratings

Exactly.  That same article has the Angels below the Nats in average 2011 rating, right before the Angels inked their huge TV deal.

[tomterp]

40% seems designed to screw the Os by paying the Nats market rate without having to give the same amount to the Os.

No, if they jack up the rights fees to what they're talking about, MASN will likely run losses instead of profits, and the Nats would pick up 40% of those instead of the mere 15% or wherever they are now.