The Washington Nationals’ television rights were bound to MASN in 2005 in order to placate the Baltimore Orioles.
That franchise did not want the Montreal Expos moving to DC and encroaching on their regional dominance, so Major League Baseball made it financially beneficial for Orioles owner Peter Angelos to change his mind.
Now, eighteen years later, the Nationals are for sale and MASN could be a huge factor in when the franchise is sold and to who according to Ben Strauss of The Washington Post.
“If someone is going to spend $2 billion, I would think they would need some certainty on the media rights,” Whitecap Sports Group managing partner Robert Malandro told Strauss.
The Orioles own a controlling stake in MASN. The Nationals would like to settle their current dispute with MASN and the Angelos family before the team officially hits the market. Whether or not the Angeloses will agree to a settlement is unclear.
Leaving MASN could be a windfall for the Nationals’ future owners. The team currently received $60 million annually for its media rights. Meanwhile, division rival Philadelphia is in the middle of a 25-year deal with Comcast that pays the team $2.5 billion over the life of the contract.
MASN is also in a bit of financial dire straits right now after losing more than a third of its subscribers in 2022. The network has responded by cutting back on people and assets dedicated to covering baseball.
A court recently found that the network owes the Washington Nationals $100 million. Perhaps that is an incentive for a buyer, but is it enough?
The Orioles, currently caught up in the middle of a family drama, could hit the market themselves. Also, the team has long held firm on its stance that Orioles’ and Nationals’ television rights stay linked.
Those are factors that would certainly affect the value of the Washington Nationals on the open market.
