Well, well, well, according to the Washington Post, MLB has enlisted the help of a private investment bank to find new owners for Nats and O's TV rights that are currently held in the cold dead hands of demonic Orioles owner Peter Angelos and his evil Mid Atlantic Sports Network. OK, maybe we went too far with the "demonic" thing. But still, MLB is totally f*cked.
The names of two potential buyers have been floated: Fox Sports (currently making a full court press for local TV rights deals everywhere), and Comcast.
We chatted with a person who knows stuff about the negotiations (and is usually right about stuff) who says the chances of Comcast securing Nationals rights are slim and none, mostly because Angelos still has hurt feelings about how he was treated when he tried to launch MASN on Comcast systems in the DMV when the Nationals first moved to town. For that reason alone he's more likely to do a deal with Fox Sports: "He's a stubborn guy."
Apparently Angelos is in a position where he thinks he has contract law on his side, and probably thinks he is standing on some moral high ground. According to a person who knows stuff, strict interpretation of the contract favors Angelos, not the Nats; and people who have done business with Angelos say that this is the type of situation where he digs in his heels. Bad news for Ted Lerner.
It doesn't help that Rob Manfred (the guy MLB has in place trying to work this out) has negligible TV experience and no cable experience to speak of. And that's why Bud Selig has gone running to Steve Greenberg to clean up the mess -- think of it as a Hail Mary. As an aside, Greenberg helped Ted Leonsis buy the Wizards, and Selig sell the Brewers.
Essentially MLB can either honor the Angelos contract as it was written (advantage O's); or it can give a nod to the billions of dollars being collected and spent by the Dodgers, Angels, Yankees, et al. It sounds like the two sides are entrenched, not close, and unwilling to compromise.
And who can blame them?
(Screencap of Peter Angelos via IBEWHourPower video.)
This whole fiasco can be laid at the feet of Bud Selig. He was SOOO afraid of Peter Angelos trying to dredge up the Holy Grail for professional sports, Anti Trust Exemption, that he basically bent over for Angelos. Thank goodness that the front office led by Mike Rizzo was able to put together a NL East Champion squad this past season. Without having our OWN TV revenue stream coming in, there isn't any way we can compete in free agency with teams like the Dodgers, Angels, Yankees, Red Sox and others like them who has ownership of their own games and have some serious $$$$ to offer.
Posted by: DCMixMstr | December 14, 2012 at 09:49 AM
Plain and simple; Angelos is a douche. I even refuse to go to Ralph Cramden Yards to see the Yankees beat the Baltimorons because I don't want to give Angelos one red cent. He can suck it.
Posted by: orangeNblack | December 14, 2012 at 10:08 AM
Well upshot is he is old and may die soon... maybe we can resolve things that way.
Posted by: eatthelump | December 15, 2012 at 10:15 AM