WP: Nats MASN deal renegotations will have a huge impact

[OldChelsea]

What's the point of Anglelos keeping MASN going if it still results in him being a mid-market team?   

Other than screwing the Nationals, that is???

That's the only reason he's doing it. There is no excuse for him getting telly revenue from two teams and not putting a more competitive team out on the diamond (yes, even in the spending-crazy AL East).

[HalfSmokes]

It would be a court in Maryland - either state or federal depending on the law on which the suit would be based - since he would be the plaintiff. And if it were a simple breach-of-contract action it would be a Maryland state court. His odds would be a bit less in federal court, since appeals from the US District Court for the District of Maryland lie to the Fourth Circuit, where not all of the judges are from Maryland (and thus not from the political system Angelos operates in). The state court lawsuit 'keeps it in the family'.

And Angelos is a major power in the state's one-party politics (he was once Democratic state treasurer, and was chosen by the state government to litigate billion-dollar cases against the tobacco and asbestos industries) - he and his allies (Sens. Sarbanes, Mikulski, Cardin) helped put a lot of those judges where they are now. His chances of losing in a Maryland court, either state or federal, are effectively nil.

um, whyc couldn't Lerner file in DC (or Delaware)

[OldChelsea]

um, Lerner could easily file in DC

True, but I was referring to a suit initiated by Angelos.

[comish4lif]

Today at 12:50 pm, on 106.7 FM the Fan, a writer will discuss his findings that Angelos has been receiving 95% of the MASN contract.

Does anyone know what segment this is from this page?

http://washington.cbslocal.com/audio/

[PowerBoater69]

I clicked on the Grant and Danny link and it was the first clip listed.  Nothing much said that wasn't in the article.

[welch]

Let the Lerners sue in Washington. Time to change the answer to he old question: is baseball a monopoly? If the deal was that the Lerners -- or anyone else -- could not buy the team unless they accepted the Angelos TV deal, it sounds illegal. Extortion. A yellow dog contract.

And, furthermore, the Orioles need to be moved back to St Louis!!!

[OldChelsea]

Let the Lerners sue in Washington. Time to change the answer to he old question: is baseball a monopoly? If the deal was that the Lerners -- or anyone else -- could not buy the team unless they accepted the Angelos TV deal, it sounds illegal. Extortion. A yellow dog contract.

And, furthermore, the Orioles need to be moved back to St Louis!!!

They need to be moved to Havana. If Angelos is so madly in love with Castro's political/economic system, let his team play there.

[Ray D]

They need to be moved to Havana. If Angelos is so madly in love with Castro's political/economic system, let his team play there.

It never occurred to me until now, but both Angelos and Ossie Guillen praised Castro.  Guillen was crucified and eventually fired.  Why did Angelos get a pass?

[spidernat]

They need to be moved to Havana. If Angelos is so madly in love with Castro's political/economic system, let his team play there.

[mitlen]

It never occurred to me until now, but both Angelos and Ossie Guillen praised Castro.  Guillen was crucified and eventually fired.  Why did Angelos get a pass?

Guillen said it and was fired in Miami where Cuba and Castro are a big deal.      Angelos lives in Baltimore ...  ahh   ....   errr   ....  where most of the people don't know where Cuba is and think Castro is a type of sofa.

[Gleason2]

It never occurred to me until now, but both Angelos and Ossie Guillen praised Castro.  Guillen was crucified and eventually fired.  Why did Angelos get a pass?

And yet Guillen hated Chavez.  I guess when your own people are being oppressed it's different.  What does he care about what Castro did to Cuba?

[jhuterp]

“That’s the other side,” said Tella. “That [Angelos] has been cautious with his approach to the team, not knowing what could happen given the massive shift that could go against him.”

What's this?   The MASN deal may put the Orioles in a financial bind?  There's a word for that: Karma

[blue911]

It never occurred to me until now, but both Angelos and Ossie Guillen praised Castro.  Guillen was crucified and eventually fired.  Why did Angelos get a pass?

I think Guillen said something along the lines of "you have admire the fact his be in office that long". No clue as to how the rule had affected the ex-pats in the area.

[spidernat]

I don't know if I understand this. Has Lerner been getting money on the side from MLB to compensate for the low amount he has been getting from Angelos?

[HalfSmokes]

I don't know if I understand this. Has Lerner been getting money on the side from MLB to compensate for the low amount he has been getting from Angelos?

Yep,  at this point,  you have to wonder if Angelos will be forced to settle,  if he looses,  the back payments (hopefully at a nice high pre-judgment interest rate)  could be enough to drive MASN into the ground

[spidernat]

So since this was done secretly they have been pocketing more money than was advertised. Of course the low amount they were receiving from MASN was one of the chief reasons cited for remaining cheap for so long. 

[NJ Ave]

Everyone knows they're just waiting until they can cut everyone from their top ten payroll with World Series aspirations to again field a talentless organization not worth spending money on.

Clever Lerners, we see through your tricks...

[Lintyfresh85]

Everyone knows they're just waiting until they can cut everyone from their top ten payroll with World Series aspirations to again field a talentless organization not worth spending money on.

Clever Lerners, we see through your tricks...

Well if they've been pocketing it for years... it does call into question some of the lean early years... which I assume Spider was referring to.

[blue911]

Well if they've been pocketing it for years... it does call into question some of the lean early years... which I assume Spider was referring to.

Why would you think years? I'd guess it's been since the reset impasse

[Lintyfresh85]

Why would you think years? I'd guess it's been since the reset impasse

I don't know... I was just assuming that's what Spider meant.

[jhuterp]

Yep,  at this point,  you have to wonder if Angelos will be forced to settle,  if he looses,  the back payments (hopefully at a nice high pre-judgment interest rate)  could be enough to drive MASN into the ground

They'll cut a deal, billionaires aren't going to go to war against each other when everyone can make money instead.  Angelos and the Lerners will both get paid.  The painful part is between Angelos and Selig/MLB it's going to take a long, long time.  Either a restructured equity agreement w/the Nats and MLB throwing some money Angelos' way for a bigger slice of the pie, or a new RSN w/Fox, Comcast, whoever buying out MASN.

[HalfSmokes]

The problem is everyone can't make money- MASN has terrible deals with cable companies -  increased equity still won't be enough to get the learners fair market,  break up MASN and you realize the Os initial fears with Baltimore becoming one of the smallest markets in baseball.  If there was a win win,  this would have been solved a year ago

[NookLoganMafia]

I think Angelos' power over the Maryland Judiciary is wildly overstated. His firm got crucified by the Maryland Court of Appeals (our highest court) in his latest big gas station leak case. The Court basically threw out all the punitive damages (which is where plaintiff's trial lawyers make their money).

[jhuterp]

The problem is everyone can't make money- MASN has terrible deals with cable companies -  increased equity still won't be enough to get the learners fair market,  break up MASN and you realize the Os initial fears with Baltimore becoming one of the smallest markets in baseball.  If there was a win win,  this would have been solved a year ago

That's a good point about the carriage fees.  The current deal is only viable as long as MLB keeps paying the Nats hush money.  On the other hand the Nats could lower their asking price for rights fees in return for more equity in MASN, but then both teams are stuck w/the horrible deal MASN negotiated w/the cable companies.  At this point the win-win really seems to be getting both the O's and Nats out of the current deal which doesn't seem to working for anyone.  Any deal will still have the teams sharing a combined market IMO.  In any case I don't see this going Angelos' way which would be to pay the Nats rock bottom rights fees.  If the arbitration panel (Rays, Pirates, Mets) was going to agree w/the Orioles they could have done that years ago.  I read somewhere the rest of MLB is hoping the Nats win this since low rights fees would set a bad precedent for other teams negotiations. 

[tomterp]

That's a good point about the carriage fees.  The current deal is only viable as long as MLB keeps paying the Nats hush money.  On the other hand the Nats could lower their asking price for rights fees in return for more equity in MASN, but then both teams are stuck w/the horrible deal MASN negotiated w/the cable companies.

I'm not sure I'd call the deal "horrible".  A bit below average it would appear but not dramatically so, and the market base is pretty large.  They're probably getting paid pretty well given the ratings history. 

Obviously equity would be better than higher rights fees given the current structure.