The Nats are...For Sale?!?

[Elvir Ovcina]

But they haven't even settled the litigation from when it was due the first time much less the subsequent time which is also up.

Because neither party has any incentive to settle.  The Orioles hold all the cards, and so all the Nationals can do is sue and sue and arbitrate and arbitrate, and between kicking stuff back and forth between arbitrators and the courts, it just goes on and on.  If you're asking why it takes so long, it's arbitrations that take forever because of the never-ending briefs, even compared to the federal court system where timelines can be long but at least there are page limits on things.

Selig sold the Nationals' future to Baltimore when they gave Angelos this MASN agreement and it's not like any of those toad-faced freaks are ever going to stop litigating when there's an alternative (such as suing their own mother, which one of them is doing).

[NatsLSU]

This franchise is absolutely screwed if Ted takes over. He’s an absolute clown and doesn’t care about winning at all. Cares more about just making the “first round” so he’s profitable on the season than winning a title. Would be an absolute travesty. Needed a generational player to win a Cup and they should’ve had at least 2 more if Terd cared about winning. He gave Bradley Beal the worst contract in all of the NBA in a bidding war that didn’t exist. Lazy lazy lazy. This team will be just good enough to be competitive but will never challenge for a title.

[Senatorswin]

Because neither party has any incentive to settle.  The Orioles hold all the cards, and so all the Nationals can do is sue and sue and arbitrate and arbitrate, and between kicking stuff back and forth between arbitrators and the courts, it just goes on and on.  If you're asking why it takes so long, it's arbitrations that take forever because of the never-ending briefs, even compared to the federal court system where timelines can be long but at least there are page limits on things.

Selig sold the Nationals' future to Baltimore when they gave Angelos this MASN agreement and it's not like any of those toad-faced freaks are ever going to stop litigating when there's an alternative (such as suing their own mother, which one of them is doing).

I think originally the Nats were awarded a certain amount which the O's protested because they said the people who decided were biased. So now they are in arbitration? Meanwhile, the Nats don't get paid. As soon as they decide the first case I guess they go into battle for the next 5 years which is up. This seems like a unmanageable and ridiculous agreement that was flawed from the beginning. I guess nobody knows exactly where it stands except the lawyers.

[Senatorswin]

I agree with some Ted is not the answer. We'll be mediocre at best forever.

[JCA-CrystalCity]

On the other hand, he may be willing to come on a junior partner with a right to buy the team.  I think the idea of adding the Nats and maybe the Os to Monumental and NBC Sports Washington is something he'd want, and could potentially offer say a 30- 40% stake in the RSN in exchange for MASN and settlement of past disputes with the Nats.

[HalfSmokes]

On the other hand, he may be willing to come on a junior partner with a right to buy the team.  I think the idea of adding the Nats and maybe the Os to Monumental and NBC Sports Washington is something he'd want, and could potentially offer say a 30- 40% stake in the RSN in exchange for MASN and settlement of past disputes with the Nats.

I really doubt that the Os ever give up majority control of the Nats rights, but if that was part of the deal and factored in does he or monumental have the extra money that the rights would cost?

[JCA-CrystalCity]

I really doubt that the Os ever give up majority control of the Nats rights, but if that was part of the deal and factored in does he or monumental have the extra money that the rights would cost?

who knows how they would structure it, but I could see something like a 40% piece of Monumental, with a committed owner and a good winter package, as being worth more than 75% and declining of MASN and the potential for big rights fees to the Nats in a judgment.

[nfotiu]

who knows how they would structure it, but I could see something like a 40% piece of Monumental, with a committed owner and a good winter package, as being worth more than 75% and declining of MASN and the potential for big rights fees to the Nats in a judgment.

It will be interesting to see how it all plays out.   A combined dtc streaming platform is really that valuable.   Nats, Wizards, Os, and Capitals all average in the 20,000-80,000 hh viewers depending on how the team is doing, etc.   If you got all your regular viewers to buy a $20/month streaming package, 100,000 subscribers would seem like a very optimistic best case scenario.   That's only 24 million/year in revenue in absolute best case, and split between the 4 teams.

MASN is still bringing in 150-200 million in subscriber fees, and NBC sports is probably in the 100-150 million range.

[JCA-CrystalCity]

It will be interesting to see how it all plays out.   A combined dtc streaming platform is really that valuable.   Nats, Wizards, Os, and Capitals all average in the 20,000-80,000 hh viewers depending on how the team is doing, etc.   If you got all your regular viewers to buy a $20/month streaming package, 100,000 subscribers would seem like a very optimistic best case scenario.   That's only 24 million/year in revenue in absolute best case, and split between the 4 teams.

MASN is still bringing in 150-200 million in subscriber fees, and NBC sports is probably in the 100-150 million range.

The idea Zach Leonsis talks about in the Post article is that Monumental is looking to add alternative broadcasts as part of any streaming package, like the A-Rod or Manning broadcasts as alternatives to the main ESPN feeds.

[nfotiu]

The idea Zach Leonsis talks about in the Post article is that Monumental is looking to add alternative broadcasts as part of any streaming package, like the A-Rod or Manning broadcasts as alternatives to the main ESPN feeds.

I'm not sure how you'd monetize that to be anything significant.   If they are averaging 40,000 viewers now, how many new subscribers is an alternate broadcast going to bring?   How much is a gambling company going to pay for 5,000 viewers watching their gambling simulcast?   

The math in moving from a model where millions un-willingly pay $5/month to a model where you have to convince your 50,000 or so actual viewers to willingly pay is not going to be pretty.   

[UMDNats]

The idea Zach Leonsis talks about in the Post article is that Monumental is looking to add alternative broadcasts as part of any streaming package, like the A-Rod or Manning broadcasts as alternatives to the main ESPN feeds.

"Large adult son of rich sports teams owner parrots an idea that ESPN has already failed to replicate on sunday night baseball"

these galaxy brained execs are so clueless to why the manning cast was so good. just complete buffoons. looking forward to Zach creating the Alan May cast for Caps games with 7 viewers a game and charging Caps fans $20 a month.

[imref]

This says Ted wants to be part of the Rubenstein group. It doesn't seem as if he has the resources to buy the team on his own:

https://www.bizjournals.com/washington/news/2022/08/23/ted-leonsis-nationals-sale-david-rubenstein.html

talknats reports Monumental is going to try and buy the Nats rights away from MASN

[DPMOmaha]

The article is behind a paywall.

As someone who doesn’t live in the area, Rubenstein has been intriguing to me from the beginning.

[Senatorswin]

This says Ted wants to be part of the Rubenstein group. It doesn't seem as if he has the resources to buy the team on his own:

https://www.bizjournals.com/washington/news/2022/08/23/ted-leonsis-nationals-sale-david-rubenstein.html

talknats reports Monumental is going to try and buy the Nats rights away from MASN

That would be some sweet action if Monumental was able to buy the Nats rights.

[imref]

The article is behind a paywall.

As someone who doesn’t live in the area, Rubenstein has been intriguing to me from the beginning.

https://russianmachineneverbreaks.com/2022/08/24/billionaire-david-rubenstein-reportedly-joins-ted-leonsiss-group-to-buy-washington-nationals/

[CowherPower]

The idea Zach Leonsis talks about in the Post article is that Monumental is looking to add alternative broadcasts as part of any streaming package, like the A-Rod or Manning broadcasts as alternatives to the main ESPN feeds.

How about an alternative broadcast with Ray Knight and Rob Dibble?  I might pay to watch that.   

[Elvir Ovcina]

How about an alternative broadcast with Ray Knight and Rob Dibble?  I might pay to watch that.   

They'd need their own dedicated bartender.

[Senatorswin]

MLB attendance and TV ratings have been declining since 2017 for attendance and 2018 for TV ratings. I would hesitate to but a baseball team and more than that give a player a 10 or 13 year contract for half a billion.

[NatsLSU]

Between the Wiz and Caps, only the Caps have made it past the second round once during his ownership. Just some perspective.

[machpost]

Between the Wiz and Caps, only the Caps have made it past the second round once during his ownership. Just some perspective.

I don't pay attention to the NBA at all. Why are the Wizards so consistently bad? Can they not attract star players? Is Ted cheap? Bad luck?

[Slateman]

I don't pay attention to the NBA at all. Why are the Wizards so consistently bad? Can they not attract star players? Is Ted cheap? Bad luck?

The NBA is different. If you dont have two superstar (or close to) players, you wont do well enough to matter. It was supposed to be John Wall and Bradley Beal, but then neither could stay healthy. They dealt Wall and tried with Westbrook, but he is past prime and Beal couldnt stay healthy

[Senatorswin]

The NBA is different. If you dont have two superstar (or close to) players, you wont do well enough to matter. It was supposed to be John Wall and Bradley Beal, but then neither could stay healthy. They dealt Wall and tried with Westbrook, but he is past prime and Beal couldnt stay healthy

Now that they've given a 29 year-old Beal 50 million a year for 5 years they have no shot to win anything for the foreseeable future.

[UMDNats]

With Ted and Rubenstein joining forces I have to think they lock this down.

[Slateman]

Now that they've given a 29 year-old Beal 50 million a year for 5 years they have no shot to win anything for the foreseeable future.

But they locked up the superstar!!!!

Leonsis might get the Nats out of MASN. That would probably be the only good thing he does. At 65 years old, he aint going anywhere for a while.

I hope we all enjoyed 2019

[Five Banners]

Can you imagine what would happen on the TV rights side of things for the Nationals if the latter happened?

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-08-24/who-will-buy-the-washington-nationals-david-rubenstein-ted-leonsis-weigh-bid

“Ted Leonsis’s Monumental Sports & Entertainment and Carlyle Group Inc. co-founder David Rubenstein are weighing a bid for Major League Baseball’s Washington Nationals.

“The pair has also told key backers of the Baltimore Orioles that they would consider buying the team if it comes up for sale, according to a person with knowledge of the matter.“