Author Topic: Will MLB force the Angelos family to sell the Nats TV rights to the Lerners? (Read 4013 times)

PowerBoater69 · « **Topic Start:** January 30, 2024, 07:07:45 PM »

The Nats own 25% of MASN, does MLB require the Angelos family to sell the Lerners 25% to make them equal partners? Would the Lerners want to take their half and split off or keep MASN in place as equal partners with the new ownership group? If it took 10+ years to agree on rights fees, how long will it take to determine a value of a 25% stake?

Slateman · « **Reply #1:** January 30, 2024, 07:15:26 PM »

Lol what

The TV rights convey with the team. All of the TV rights.

The Orioles own the majority share of MASN.

welch · « **Reply #2:** January 30, 2024, 08:29:32 PM »

As best I can tell, the new owners of the Orioles -- Rubenstein and Arougheti -- will continue to own most of the Nats' TV rights.

JCA-CrystalCity · « **Reply #3:** January 30, 2024, 08:31:07 PM »

Quote from: Slateman on January 30, 2024, 07:15:26 PM

Lol what

The TV rights convey with the team. All of the TV rights.

The Orioles own the majority share of MASN.

that's the starting point. I don't know if the Lerners have much leverage to hold up the sale over the MASN issue. If they go too far, then they might get a similar treatment from Rubinstein when it is time to sell the Nats.

Five Banners · « **Reply #4:** January 30, 2024, 08:49:00 PM »

Quote from: welch on January 30, 2024, 08:29:32 PM

As best I can tell, the new owners of the Orioles -- Rubenstein and Arougheti -- will continue to own most of the Nats' TV rights.

If so, and the remaining Lerners and Manfred don’t force the issue at this point, — leaving this albatross across the neck of the franchise and penalizing the Nats on the draft to boot, this may be where I tap out of caring to a large degree, and definitely on spending much on the sport.

PowerBoater69 · « **Reply #5:** January 30, 2024, 08:50:07 PM »

Quote from: welch on January 30, 2024, 08:29:32 PM

As best I can tell, the new owners of the Orioles -- Rubenstein and Arougheti -- will continue to own most of the Nats' TV rights.

The contract says that the MASN ownership is transferred with the Orioles franchise rights. The ray of hope is that MLB needs to approve the sale and they could force the new owners to agree to sell their stake in the Nats ownership rights to the Lerners. Lots of questions about how that would work. How would they determine the value for MASN (the Nats already own 25%, so they'd be buying 25%)? Are the Nats rights the more valuable portion of the overall MASN value? Would MASN cease to be a network, with the teams having separate broadcast areas or would they continue to be partners, just as equals?

PowerBoater69 · « **Reply #6:** January 30, 2024, 08:52:35 PM »

Quote from: JCA-CrystalCity on January 30, 2024, 08:31:07 PM

that's the starting point. I don't know if the Lerners have much leverage to hold up the sale over the MASN issue. If they go too far, then they might get a similar treatment from Rubinstein when it is time to sell the Nats.

The Angelos family screwed the Lerners for 10+ years tying them up in court. It sure would be an ideal time for the Lerners to return the favor and sue the Os while the sale is in progress. The other MLB clubs would be pissed but I think only Mark Lerner would care, I could see his brothers-in-law being more vindictive.

nfotiu · « **Reply #7:** January 30, 2024, 09:30:45 PM »

MASN ownership is about worthless. They are a breakeven company at best with the resets, and will have to fight to keep the rates from putting them underwater. There is no incentive for the Nats owners to want part of MASN. Taking their rights elsewhere isn't all that valuable in the current environment other than if it can help with a Leonsis sale.

PowerBoater69 · « **Reply #8:** January 30, 2024, 09:32:41 PM »

Reports out of Baltimore are that the sale includes the Os 75% stake in MASN. No deal is being offered to the Lerners.

Slateman · « **Reply #9:** January 30, 2024, 09:33:03 PM »

https://twitter.com/bymattweyrich/status/1752517019440689362?s=46&t=bqDocN33sQmOz6S1Po7Ygg

Quote

MASN is included in the Orioles' team sale, including the rights to broadcast Nationals games, per a
@baltimoresun source. No change in the arrangement between the two teams. @sunjeffbarker is on it

Senatorswin · « **Reply #10:** January 30, 2024, 09:51:01 PM »

Hopefully the new owners won't continually try to screw the Nationals like the Angelos's did.

imref · « **Reply #11:** January 30, 2024, 11:12:06 PM »

Seems like it would be advantageous for the new owners to dissolve MASN and try and sell orioles and Nats rights, probably to Monumental. That would be ironic.

Natsinpwc · « **Reply #12:** January 31, 2024, 07:13:44 AM »

Instead of worrying about this we should be worrying about why the Lerners are not selling.

HalfSmokes · « **Reply #13:** January 31, 2024, 07:38:32 AM »

Quote from: imref on January 30, 2024, 11:12:06 PM

Seems like it would be advantageous for the new owners to dissolve MASN and try and sell orioles and Nats rights, probably to Monumental. That would be ironic.

Does monumental have that kind of money? If the new owners really wanted to maximize value, they would move to a new market while retaining the national’s rights

1995hoo · « **Reply #14:** January 31, 2024, 07:45:39 AM »

At this point, I’m just hoping the new owners up there will reconsider Angelos's refusal to allow MASN to be carried on cable-replacement streaming services like YouTube TV, Sling, etc. After we switched to YouTube TV, I used DNS spoofing and MLB.tv to circumvent the blackouts, but it got to be so much of a hassle, and it caused so many problems with my wife's programming (gist: the DNS settings I needed for baseball conflicted with the settings she needed for one of her TV apps), that I gave up. I barely paid any attention to baseball last year as a result.

Slateman · « **Reply #15:** January 31, 2024, 07:46:16 AM »

Quote from: Natsinpwc on January 31, 2024, 07:13:44 AM

Instead of worrying about this we should be worrying about why the Lerners are not selling.

Cus they havent gotten the offer they want yet

JCA-CrystalCity · « **Reply #16:** January 31, 2024, 08:00:36 AM »

I wonder if Leonsis would be interested in the Nats if he simply bought MASN from Rubinstein.

Natsinpwc · « **Reply #17:** January 31, 2024, 08:06:27 AM »

Quote from: Slateman on January 31, 2024, 07:46:16 AM

Cus they havent gotten the offer they want yet

Tbey need to adjust their expectations. Or else make a commitment to DC to make the team competitive again. They have overvalued what anyone is willing to spend. They are not much more valuable than the BLOS.

Slateman · « **Reply #18:** January 31, 2024, 08:12:41 AM »

Quote from: Natsinpwc on January 31, 2024, 08:06:27 AM

Tbey need to adjust their expectations. Or else make a commitment to DC to make the team competitive again. They have overvalued what anyone is willing to spend. They are not much more valuable than the BLOS.

I mean, they dont need to do either. Right now, the team is fairly profitable, and will only get more so after we shed Corbin.

They already have a 2+ billion offer, so if they've over valued, it isnt by much. As baseball revenues grow, so to will the Nationals' value. This is how the Lerners do business. They set a price and it takes heaven and earth to move them off.

machpost · « **Reply #19:** January 31, 2024, 08:27:45 AM »

Quote from: 1995hoo on January 31, 2024, 07:45:39 AM

After we switched to YouTube TV, I used DNS spoofing and MLB.tv to circumvent the blackouts, but it got to be so much of a hassle, and it caused so many problems with my wife's programming (gist: the DNS settings I needed for baseball conflicted with the settings she needed for one of her TV apps), that I gave up. I barely paid any attention to baseball last year as a result.

I did the same thing for three seasons after our cable provider (RCN) dropped MASN altogether, and I agree, it was a huge pain. I never missed a game, but there were plenty of nights where it just didn't work at first, requiring an agonizing process of uninstalling the app, rebooting, contacting the smart DNS service provider, etc., etc. And yes, when it was set up to get Nats games, a lot of other apps stopped working.

machpost · « **Reply #20:** January 31, 2024, 08:31:24 AM »

Quote from: Natsinpwc on January 31, 2024, 08:06:27 AM

Tbey need to adjust their expectations. Or else make a commitment to DC to make the team competitive again. They have overvalued what anyone is willing to spend. They are not much more valuable than the BLOS.

I wish they'd do something. That hot stove event last weekend made it abundantly clear that this team is merely treading water at the moment. I guess they're fine with minuscule crowds in the park through most of the season.

Natsinpwc · « **Reply #21:** January 31, 2024, 08:44:57 AM »

Quote from: Slateman on January 31, 2024, 08:12:41 AM

I mean, they dont need to do either. Right now, the team is fairly profitable, and will only get more so after we shed Corbin.

They already have a 2+ billion offer, so if they've over valued, it isnt by much. As baseball revenues grow, so to will the Nationals' value. This is how the Lerners do business. They set a price and it takes heaven and earth to move them off.

Well good luck with that.

HalfSmokes · « **Reply #22:** January 31, 2024, 11:54:49 AM »

Quote from: JCA-CrystalCity on January 31, 2024, 08:00:36 AM

I wonder if Leonsis would be interested in the Nats if he simply bought MASN from Rubinstein.

Adding the O's and Nats to his network of teams that people don't watch would be a master stroke. Somehow, I doubt he's dumb enough to double down on an RSN just as they are fading away

imref · « **Reply #23:** January 31, 2024, 08:51:40 PM »

Worth a read:
https://www.talknats.com/2024/01/31/from-2004-to-2024-the-leverage-has-turned-on-baltimore/

HalfSmokes · « **Reply #24:** January 31, 2024, 09:16:42 PM »

Is there anything to suggest that the lerners have 7 owners willing to strong arm Angelos?