Will MLB force the Angelos family to sell the Nats TV rights to the Lerners?

[Natsinpwc]

The legal and accountant fees have the be the highest in MLB as well.

Legal fees for sure.  An Angelos entity probably uses an app to do its accounting.   

[Slateman]

What are you talking about? The nats fees are set by arbitration. The Os get the same amount per the MASN deal. Anything left over after other expenses is profit. Once that arbitration number is set, it is not the Nats’ problem if the money isn’t there- MASN either pays it or goes bankrupt

Everything Ive found says the Orioles own the majority of the TV rights for the Nats

[CowherPower]

Apologies if this has already been posted, but I didn't see it.  Chelsea Janes had a little more about this in the Post: https://wapo.st/49quoe4

[Kevrock]

That was yesterday. Anyway, Manfred needs to get something in writing or nothing will change. Owners aren't going to do anything out of the goodness of their hearts

[HalfSmokes]

Everything Ive found says the Orioles own the majority of the TV rights for the Nats

They own the rights, but they have to pay the nats an amount set by arbitration for those rights

[JCA-CrystalCity]

Everything Ive found says the Orioles own the majority of the TV rights for the Nats

they own the majority of MASN. MASN holds the broadcast rights to each teams. the amount paid to each team for broadcast rights is equal - the Os are guaranteed the same as the Nats rights, which are either settled amicably or through arbitration. if there is a profit, that's goes to MASN, which the Os own about 75%. There can't be much profit after paying both teams for their broadcast rights.

[imref]

More MASN woes:
https://www.thebaltimorebanner.com/sports/orioles-mlb/masn-xfinity-orioles-nationals-5TN6RHR5RZBGRBC3VTSFWT7NQQ/

[Senatorswin]

It seems MASN might have to do some kind of deal with Monumental.

[PowerBoater69]

It seems MASN might have to do some kind of deal with Monumental.

Or offer a direct subscription like Monumental does.

[HalfSmokes]

It seems MASN might have to do some kind of deal with Monumental.

I'm not sure that helps. Comcast isn't going to increase its payout to monumental just because they add two assets that Comcast already doesn't want to pay for.

[Natsinpwc]

I'm not sure that helps. Comcast isn't going to increase its payout to monumental just because they add two assets that Comcast already doesn't want to pay for.

If the game alive to Mounumental wouldn’t their agreement with Comcast just continue?  Probably they would not get much more. Not sure how it would work. 

[nfotiu]

Or offer a direct subscription like Monumental does.

That would only offset a tiny fraction of what would be lost without a Comcast deal.   I'd still guess a deal with Comcast gets done, but there are lots of reasons why it might not.   Comcast is no longer going to have FCC pressure to complete a deal since they don't own their own RSN any more.   MASN has limited room to negotiate downwards since their other contracts with Directv etc have clauses that would get them the same reduction.   MASN will have to resolve this somehow to complete the sale I would think.

[HalfSmokes]

If the game alive to Mounumental wouldn’t their agreement with Comcast just continue?  Probably they would not get much more. Not sure how it would work. 

That was my thinking. I'm not sure how that would benefit monumental or masn

[Natsinpwc]

That was my thinking. I'm not sure how that would benefit monumental or masn

Would assume monumental would want more money next time it negotiates with Comcast.  Not sure when that might be.

[PowerBoater69]

That would only offset a tiny fraction of what would be lost without a Comcast deal.   I'd still guess a deal with Comcast gets done, but there are lots of reasons why it might not.   Comcast is no longer going to have FCC pressure to complete a deal since they don't own their own RSN any more.   MASN has limited room to negotiate downwards since their other contracts with Directv etc have clauses that would get them the same reduction.   MASN will have to resolve this somehow to complete the sale I would think.

Comcast needs to make the deal work almost as much as MASN. Live sports is one of the last things keeping cable alive.

[machpost]

Live sports is one of the last things keeping cable alive.

It is quite literally THE only thing keeping me subscribed to cable.

[nfotiu]

Comcast needs to make the deal work almost as much as MASN. Live sports is one of the last things keeping cable alive.

Live sports is also killing the margins for cable companies to the point where most are giving up as TV providers.  Comcast has played hardball with other RSNs lately, so this could go either way.    MASN has 3 million subscribers and only a combined 60,000 are watching Nats and Os games on any given night.   If half of both those numbers are on Comcast, by cutting MASN, they risk losing 30,000 customers but they increase their margins by $50 per subscriber/year for their 1.5 million subscribers.   

[Natsinpwc]

Live sports is also killing the margins for cable companies to the point where most are giving up as TV providers.  Comcast has played hardball with other RSNs lately, so this could go either way.    MASN has 3 million subscribers and only a combined 60,000 are watching Nats and Os games on any given night.   If half of both those numbers are on Comcast, by cutting MASN, they risk losing 30,000 customers but they increase their margins by $50 per subscriber/year for their 1.5 million subscribers.

Baseball has become a niche sport in most places.

[imref]

yeah, it really depends on the sport. WWE just got $5 billion for 10 years of 3 hours a week live programming from Netflix.

I'd imagine the future for baseball is some kind of national tv streaming deal.

[HalfSmokes]

It is quite literally THE only thing keeping me subscribed to cable.

That’s why I have YouTube tv. Not having MASN bothers me less than it should

[1995hoo]

That’s why I have YouTube tv. Not having MASN bothers me less than it should

We switched to YouTube TV in March 2020; it was mere happenstance that it coincided with all the sports leagues shutting down at the start of COVID, and the main factor for us was the amount we saved over DirecTV. The price of YouTube TV has gone up since then, but we're still paying about $70 a month less for that service than we did for DirecTV (and I assume, but do not know, that DirecTV has gone up as well). I used MLB.tv for a while, but as I've said before it became too much of a hassle and I gave up. I don't miss it all that much, but the side effect of that is that I don't really follow the Nats all that closely anymore. I think baseball is a sport you need to follow day in and day out to appreciate properly, and the fact that many of us who used to follow the Nats religiously are not watching anymore because of the TV situation—and have found that it didn't leave all that big a hole in our lives—ought to concern the franchise's management a lot more than it appears to. (Regarding not leaving all that big a hole in our lives, consider that anyone my age—I'm 50—who grew up in the DC area grew up without baseball, so it's not all that alien to us not to have a team to follow.)

[blue911]

We switched to YouTube TV in March 2020; it was mere happenstance that it coincided with all the sports leagues shutting down at the start of COVID, and the main factor for us was the amount we saved over DirecTV. The price of YouTube TV has gone up since then, but we're still paying about $70 a month less for that service than we did for DirecTV (and I assume, but do not know, that DirecTV has gone up as well). I used MLB.tv for a while, but as I've said before it became too much of a hassle and I gave up. I don't miss it all that much, but the side effect of that is that I don't really follow the Nats all that closely anymore. I think baseball is a sport you need to follow day in and day out to appreciate properly, and the fact that many of us who used to follow the Nats religiously are not watching anymore because of the TV situation—and have found that it didn't leave all that big a hole in our lives—ought to concern the franchise's management a lot more than it appears to. (Regarding not leaving all that big a hole in our lives, consider that anyone my age—I'm 50—who grew up in the DC area grew up without baseball, so it's not all that alien to us not to have a team to follow.)

MASN is such a poor product that it makes it easier to ditch. I agree about following the game on daily basis and have become an OC adherent and listen on the radio.

[machpost]

MASN is such a poor product that it makes it easier to ditch. I agree about following the game on daily basis and have become an OC adherent and listen on the radio.

We are very fortunate to have one of the best radio broadcast teams in all of baseball.

[1995hoo]

Speaking of OC, anyone have any idea what in the world happened to him? I know he was somewhat disgruntled about various things with the Nats, and I believe (but am not certain) he was dealing with some health issues, but it somewhat astonishes me how he seemingly just completely dropped off the face of the Earth. I know where he used to work (maybe he still does), and I know someone else who works there, but I don't know whether she works in the same section he did, nor do I know his real name to ask her.

[Senatorswin]

I've seen on here a lot this offseason Nats fans saying how bad the attendance will be this year and not watching them as much on MASN. So I started thinking DC is just not a sports town and other towns like Philly are sports crazy and show up no matter what. So I looked at 2015 and 2016. Philly lost 99 games in 2015 and 91 in 2016. In 2015 they were 25th in attendance. In 2016 they were 24th.

So never mind, it's not we're just not a sports town it's all about winning. Having said that, being an old Senators fan, as Ben says in "Fever Pitch", I am bullet proof and I will be in the stands to watch us take a whipping.