Orioles wins the TV rights court case battle against the Nats and MLB

[sportsfan8703]

I don't see PA losing when it comes down to that initial deal he made to let the Nats move here. How many years has this been in the courts? 3ish? There would be no Nationals without PA's deal with MLB. Why should he change that now? He'll never lose or want to lose.

[Frobby]

I don't see how this is a Pyrric victory. The court said that on the surface it was unable to vacate the RSDC decision because the reasoning of the RSDC decision could not be overturned, but that the process that arrived at the decision involving the use of the same law firm to represent all interested parties except MASN lacked fairness. Hopefully, with different council involved and some application of fairness, the next RSDC decision or, preferably, a decision by a different arbitration panel could yield a result more favorable to the Os and MASN.

I have said before I think the entire RSDC decision is a sham organized and supported by MLB, but uses a methodology to arrive at what would appear to be a reasonable decision when it is not. IMO, it is preposterous to look at the facts involved in the case and $ received by other teams and the profitability of other team-owned RSNs .... and conclude that the Nats deserve something like $53M in Year One of the first reset with MASN operating at a 5% margin - even if vacating the Bortz methodology.

The decision clearly allows this to go back before the RSDC if that's where the Nats want it. MASN can't force this to a non-MLB panel. I'm not sure if the members of the RSDC have changed, either in whole or in part. But whoever the panel is will know they could render basically the same decision and the Court won't overturn it so long as the procedural defect is corrected. They don't have to render the same decision, but they basically have license to do that. Good luck to MASN and the Orioles under the circumstances.

By the way, Justice Marks could have invalidated the decision on the procedural issue and then not addressed the substantive decision of the RSDC at all. He could have just left everyone to guess about that. In fact, that would have been a normal thing for a court to do. The fact that he addressed the merits tells me he wanted the parties to have some sense of how this would come out if the new RSDC rendered the same decision.

[hoosiers]

I get it, but I think the judge's reasoning is poor. I get that an unfair process CAN yield a valid result, but I think in this case the cited utterly unfair process yielded a flawed result.

I assume the case can be heard again and that the Os will be much better prepared to argue with validity for a reasonable Year 1 reset for rights fees and a reasonable MASN profit margin. The market value offered by MASN in round 1 was absurb (including a comp with Tampa as a two baseball team area and rights fees around $15M IIRC) as was the comp by the Nats - both of which were tossed by the RSDC as ridiculous which caused the RSDC to develop their own comp. I think MASN made a major tactical mistake here.

If possible, I would like to see the operating margin at around 12% and hopefully that yields a rights fee closer to $40M-$45M in Year 1 with an acceleration of the Nats ownership %. Reasonable minds really don't seem to be prevailing here, however.

[Frobby]

A totally Pyrrhic victory

"A Pyrrhic victory is a victory that inflicts such a devastating toll on the victor that it is tantamount to defeat. Someone who wins a Pyrrhic victory has been victorious in some way. However, the heavy toll negates any sense of achievement or profit (another term for this would be "hollow victory")."

That is my opinion of the Orioles' "victory" this week. I think two parts of Justice Marks' decision are paramount:

1. The opinion totally rejected MASN's argument that the RSDC's decision had "exceeded their powers" or that they "stray[ed] from the interpretation or application of the agreement and effectively dispense[d] [their] own brand of justice." To the contrary, Justice Marks found that the arbitrators "set forth an extensive explanation of their determination of the appropriate methodology to apply," and that explanation was "reasonable on its face...and therefore must be upheld even if this Court were to conclude that the RSDC's interpretation of its own established methodology was legally and factually incorrect." See pages 12-15 of the opinion.

2. The opinion makes clear that its will not re-write the parties' agreement and require that the remanded arbitration take place before a body other than the RSDC. He essentially said all that needs to happen is that the Nationals need to hire new counsel who don't concurrently represent MLB. See opinion at p. 28, fn. 21.

In other words, this is a wholly technical victory for MASN and the Orioles. Justice Marks has issued at open invitation for RSDC to render an updated decision that makes the exact same findings as before about the interpretation of the parties' agreement. If I were the Nats, I would not appeal this "loss." I'd rush back to the RSDC, change my counsel, and let them present the exact same case that was presented before. And the end result of the remanded arbitration will be virtually the same as before, and now MASN and the Orioles will be stuck with it.

It will be interesting to see what MASN and the Orioles do here. If they are the ones who decide to take an appeal from this decision, that will tell you who really "won."

Told ya!

[mdbdotcom]

Told ya!

Yes, but how many years will this appeal push back an eventual decision? They will go through the appeal process, and then an arbitration process, and then the Orioles will appeal the arbitration. It seems to me it could be four years or more before a decision is put into effect and the O's pay the Nats. Maybe they push it out so long that the Nats agree to a more favorable deal for the Orioles, allowing them to earn more than a 5% profit. That would be a real victory for Angelos.

[Bahama O's Fan]

Yes, but how many years will this appeal push back an eventual decision? They will go through the appeal process, and then an arbitration process, and then the Orioles will appeal the arbitration. It seems to me it could be four years or more before a decision is put into effect and the O's pay the Nats. Maybe they push it out so long that the Nats agree to a more favorable deal for the Orioles, allowing them to earn more than a 5% profit. That would be a real victory for Angelos.

Push it back till Petey's in the ground.

[Frobby]

T

Yes, but how many years will this appeal push back an eventual decision? They will go through the appeal process, and then an arbitration process, and then the Orioles will appeal the arbitration. It seems to me it could be four years or more before a decision is put into effect and the O's pay the Nats. Maybe they push it out so long that the Nats agree to a more favorable deal for the Orioles, allowing them to earn more than a 5% profit. That would be a real victory for Angelos.

I think that's the goal at this point. This appeal could take about a year, and then a further appeal to New York's highest court could take another year (if that court decides to hear the case).

By the way, New York has odd nomenclature for its courts. The trial court is called the Supreme Court. The first level of appeal is called the Supreme Court, Appellate Division. The highest court is called the Court of Appeals. Apparently the word "Supreme" has a different meaning in New York than everywhere else.

[mdbdotcom]

T

I think that's the goal at this point. This appeal could take about a year, and then a further appeal to New York's highest court could take another year (if that court decides to hear the case).

By the way, New York has odd nomenclature for its courts. The trial court is called the Supreme Court. The first level of appeal is called the Supreme Court, Appellate Division. The highest court is called the Court of Appeals. Apparently the word "Supreme" has a different meaning in New York than everywhere else.

[video=youtube;iDPjYZxi0n8]

[Going Underground]

A Forbes sports business reporter said that the Orioles are making more money since the MASN deal then before.The Orioles were losing attendance and other revenues.Financially,with MASN and the new network revenue he is doing better then ever.He was having some trouble in the early 2000's and was saved by the increased broadcast revenue.

[MDtransplant757]

A Forbes sports business reporter said that the Orioles are making more money since the MASN deal then before.The Orioles were losing attendance and other revenues.Financially,with MASN and the new network revenue he is doing better then ever.He was having some trouble in the early 2000's and was saved by the increased broadcast revenue.

Cause who wants to watch a bad team? I wouldn't.