A resolution has been struck between the Orioles and the Washington Nationals over TV rights fees from the Mid-Atlantic Sports Network after more than a decade of litigation.
What it means for the long-term state of both clubs’ TV revenue remains to be seen.
On Monday, Major League Baseball announced the clubs had reached a “final resolution of all issues related to the MASN dispute,” which includes the dismissal of all litigation that dated back to 2012. The Nationals will continue to be televised locally on the Orioles-owned MASN on a revised one-year contract for the 2025 season. Baltimore owner David Rubenstein had expressed a desire to find a resolution to the MASN dispute since he and the current investor group bought the Orioles last year.
“After this term, the Nationals will be free to explore alternatives for their television rights for the 2026 season and beyond,” MLB said in a statement. “As part of the settlement, all disputes related to past media rights between the Nationals, Orioles, and MASN have been resolved, and all litigation will be dismissed.”
The announcement effectively ends a contentious 20-year marriage that began with MASN’s creation in 2005 after the Montreal Expos moved to Washington, which had been a significant part of the Orioles’ exclusive broadcast territory since 1972. To appease then-owner Peter Angelos, MLB awarded the Orioles 90% ownership of the network while the Nationals owned 10% with an agreement calling for the latter club to gain an additional 1% annually until reaching a cap of a 33% stake to the Orioles’ 67%.
However, major problems began in 2012 as MASN was to offer rights fees of “fair market value” to both clubs, something on which MLB and Angelos didn’t agree. That led to multiple legal fights over hundreds of millions of dollars that coincided with the decline of traditional cable and satellite, which decimated MASN’s reach and value after much profitability in the network’s early years.
With multiple regional sports networks collapsing in recent years, 22 of the 30 major league clubs now offer an in-market direct-to-consumer streaming option to watch games with MLB brokering packages for several clubs for the 2025 season. The lack of a direct-to-consumer streaming option in recent years has been a major point of frustration for local fans of both clubs not wanting to pay for bigger cable, satellite, or streaming packages costing north of $100 per month.
It remains to be seen what MASN’s long-term fate will be as it now holds the TV rights of only the Orioles beyond 2025. Meanwhile, the Nationals will now be able to explore their own media rights deal with many speculating about a potential partnership with the Ted Leonsis-owned Monumental Sports Network.
