Fox trying to buy MASN

[apollod]

Angelos is in a position to screw the Nationals, as the Baltimore Sun writes, because the league specifically awarded him the power to do so:

MASN formed when MLB wanted to move the Montreal Expos to D.C. Angelos pointed out how much that would hurt his market and eventually leveraged his complaint into a remarkable deal. He owns most of the network, and his decreasing share will eventually bottom out at 67 percent (it's currently at 87).

So now the Nationals, an up-and-coming young club, want more money to help keep their core together. And Angelos, the owner of a neighboring and competing franchise, doesn't feel like giving them more money. He agreed to accept the team's relocation to Washington in exchange for being granted control of a moneymaking machine—and now, in addition to merely making money, he can protect his own team's regional market share by putting the squeeze on the competition's revenue stream.

In other words, Angelos got exactly what he negotiated for. And now the league is trying to get out of the deal through back channels, by "urging" Fox to buy their way out. But what can Fox offer that's more valuable than what Angelos already has?

Source:

http://deadspin.com/5965294/mlb-having-given-the-orioles-owner-control-over-nats-tv-begs-fox-to-buy-him-out

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[crowmst3k!]

Source:

http://deadspin.com/5965294/mlb-having-given-the-orioles-owner-control-over-nats-tv-begs-fox-to-buy-him-out

Sent from my A500 using Tapatalk 2

I hope Angelos keeps MASN, if for no other reason than to give the Nats an incentive to leave DC.

I love to see those yuppies cringe.

"When I say "go" you say "Nats".

Shut up, Terrance.

[SteveO]

Much as makes me cringe to say it, Angelos is a genius

I have no doubt that soon as he was handed the Balt-Wash he started laying down the groundwork for this to come to fruition. As a MLB owner Pete is smart enough to realize how important broadcast rights are as a revenue stream. He is also smart enough to know how MLB plays ball, he had to know if he choked the Nationals revenue stream just enough, MLB would push other broadcasting partners to obtain MASN. So here is Pete holding a monopoly that already is extremely valuable just by its very nature as a monopoly that is transferable and he has created an environment in which MLB is practically begging buyers to be aggresive about buying it. Perfect storm to rake in a above market value deal. He may not sell now, he could wait, but either way the payday will be enormous.

I know some might think I am giving Pete to much credit here but when you really think about it, what the guy has done here is parlay his permission to put a MLB team in Washington into perhaps a billion + dollars payoff. That's pretty damn impressive to me. Beats the hell out of the monetary settlements that were thrown around till the MASN deal was struck.... gotta tip my hat...well played Pete.

[VeveJones007]

Much as makes me cringe to say it, Angelos is a genius

I have no doubt that soon as he was handed the Balt-Wash he started laying down the groundwork for this to come to fruition. As a MLB owner Pete is smart enough to realize how important broadcast rights are as a revenue stream. He is also smart enough to know how MLB plays ball, he had to know if he choked the Nationals revenue stream just enough, MLB would push other broadcasting partners to obtain MASN. So here is Pete holding a monopoly that already is extremely valuable just by its very nature as a monopoly that is transferable and he has created an environment in which MLB is practically begging buyers to be aggresive about buying it. Perfect storm to rake in a above market value deal. He may not sell now, he could wait, but either way the payday will be enormous.

I know some might think I am giving Pete to much credit here but when you really think about it, what the guy has done here is parlay his permission to put a MLB team in Washington into perhaps a billion + dollars payoff. That's pretty damn impressive to me. Beats the hell out of the monetary settlements that were thrown around till the MASN deal was struck.... gotta tip my hat...well played Pete.

Yep. The man sure knows how to negotiate. Very well played whichever way he decides to go.

[TradeAngelos]

Much as makes me cringe to say it, Angelos is a genius

I have no doubt that soon as he was handed the Balt-Wash he started laying down the groundwork for this to come to fruition. As a MLB owner Pete is smart enough to realize how important broadcast rights are as a revenue stream. He is also smart enough to know how MLB plays ball, he had to know if he choked the Nationals revenue stream just enough, MLB would push other broadcasting partners to obtain MASN. So here is Pete holding a monopoly that already is extremely valuable just by its very nature as a monopoly that is transferable and he has created an environment in which MLB is practically begging buyers to be aggresive about buying it. Perfect storm to rake in a above market value deal. He may not sell now, he could wait, but either way the payday will be enormous.

I know some might think I am giving Pete to much credit here but when you really think about it, what the guy has done here is parlay his permission to put a MLB team in Washington into perhaps a billion + dollars payoff. That's pretty damn impressive to me. Beats the hell out of the monetary settlements that were thrown around till the MASN deal was struck.... gotta tip my hat...well played Pete.

Completely agree, I was going to post something similar to this earlier.

He is sitting on an absolute goldmine, and has been since the day he extorted MLB for the deal he got.

Which makes his refusal to spend money all the more disgusting.

[Can_of_corn]

Much as makes me cringe to say it, Angelos is a genius

I have no doubt that soon as he was handed the Balt-Wash he started laying down the groundwork for this to come to fruition. As a MLB owner Pete is smart enough to realize how important broadcast rights are as a revenue stream. He is also smart enough to know how MLB plays ball, he had to know if he choked the Nationals revenue stream just enough, MLB would push other broadcasting partners to obtain MASN. So here is Pete holding a monopoly that already is extremely valuable just by its very nature as a monopoly that is transferable and he has created an environment in which MLB is practically begging buyers to be aggresive about buying it. Perfect storm to rake in a above market value deal. He may not sell now, he could wait, but either way the payday will be enormous.

I know some might think I am giving Pete to much credit here but when you really think about it, what the guy has done here is parlay his permission to put a MLB team in Washington into perhaps a billion + dollars payoff. That's pretty damn impressive to me. Beats the hell out of the monetary settlements that were thrown around till the MASN deal was struck.... gotta tip my hat...well played Pete.

I have seen reports that Angelos was shocked by the projected numbers for a RSN. While he is obviously an intelligent man and very good at his chosen profession, I think he has kind of dumb lucked his way into his current situation.

[Frobby]

Source:

http://deadspin.com/5965294/mlb-having-given-the-orioles-owner-control-over-nats-tv-begs-fox-to-buy-him-out

Sent from my A500 using Tapatalk 2

The article is wrong in reporting that Angelos owns 87% of MASN. That belongs either to the group that owns the Orioles (of which Angelos is a member), or as your research suggests, the Orioles themsleves.

In a post a few months ago, I believe Tony Soprano posted some information suggesting that Angelos owns something like 62% of the Orioles.

[apollod]

The article is wrong in reporting that Angelos owns 87% of MASN. That belongs either to the group that owns the Orioles (of which Angelos is a member), or as your research suggests, the Orioles themsleves.

In a post a few months ago, I believe Tony Soprano posted some information suggesting that Angelos owns something like 62% of the Orioles.

The group that owns the orioles = the orioles themselves; as they just own varying levels of 'shares' in the company. The orioles as we think of them are just an asset (or really a collection of assets) underneath that LLP. The players paychecks and contracts most likely say "BALTIMORE ORIOLES LIMITED PARTNERSHIP" on them; I haven't looked to see if there's any other "shells" or subordinate companies under that LLP that might handle different aspects of the organization. But if you were to buy the Baltimore Orioles, you're just buying the assets from the existing LLP and rolling it into your newly formed corporation (or theoretically existing corp).

Anyway.. I think deadspin is just going with the majority owner = the franchise logic most news agencies roll with; irrespective of the actual legality behind it. I think that's slightly different than doing what brunocherrytown did and deliberately separating MASN from the O's and putting it all under Angelos' personal empire; maybe how the media reports it led to that type of confusion.

Fun Fact: MLB teams can write off roster depreciation on their taxes.

[Roll Tide]

Yep. The man sure knows how to negotiate. Very well played whichever way he decides to go.

Actually he should've blocked the move IMO. Not having the Gnats in his tv market would've been the best outcome.

[Can_of_corn]

Actually he should've blocked the move IMO. Not having the Gnats in his tv market would've been the best outcome.

Except he probably would have lost a fight to block them.

[Mr Snuffleupagus]

I live in Florida and MASN isn't available for Brighthouse Networks or Comcast in my area. Will that possibly change if Fox buys MASN?

Doubtful. You're in Rays/Marlins territory. That said, I encourage you to buy a Roku or Apple TV for $70-$100, and purchase MLB.tv. It's well worth the $150 and you won't have to worry so much about blackout restrictions unless we're playing the Rays... but even then you'll probably be able to watch on your cable service provider.

[weams]

I live in Florida and MASN isn't available for Brighthouse Networks or Comcast in my area. Will that possibly change if Fox buys MASN?

It would probably be available LESS places. They would separate GNATS and Orioles as subscriptions. Fun.

[Orange_Crush]

Just get Direct TV...problem solved.