The Orioles and Nationals reach a settlement in the MASN dispute

[interloper]

Just now, Can_of_corn said:

Right, which ownership obviously doesn't want to do.

Explain it to me like I'm 5. 

[Frobby]

1 hour ago, Tony-OH said:

The one thing I hope this helps is encouraging the Orioles to identify a direct streaming option for fans in market. I know MASN is the only thing that keeps me from cutting the cord for the most part.

Me too.   It occurred to me, I wonder if MASN’s contracts with the cable companies preclude it from offering competing services (i.e. streaming) in those areas served by the cable providers.   It seems like that would have been a reasonable ask from the cable companies.   It also would explain why mlb.tv doesn’t show the games in the local area.  So, MASN may be contractually precluded from offering streaming except to its cable subscribers.  

[Can_of_corn]

1 minute ago, interloper said:

Explain it to me like I'm 5. 

Ownership owns MASN.  They'd rather get the money as owners of MASN than pay it to the Orioles.  If it goes to the Orioles it is subject to revenue sharing. 

[Frobby]

10 minutes ago, interloper said:

So the MLBTR article says the Orioles also get paid $100 million. Is that right? 

I believe the answer is yes and no.  They get $100 mm more in rights fees, but they have to return $170 mm in profits previously paid out.  Net, they are paying out $70 mm.  This assumes that MASN previously paid out profits based on its old rights fees calculations, as opposed to simply holding onto the money until the case was resolved.   I have read that MASN did distribute the profits already, which surprised me and struck me as a very imprudent thing to do.   I don’t know if that past reporting is accurate or not.   

[MCO'sFan]

1 hour ago, Frobby said:

Me too.   It occurred to me, I wonder if MASN’s contracts with the cable companies preclude it from offering competing services (i.e. streaming) in those areas served by the cable providers.   It seems like that would have been a reasonable ask from the cable companies.   It also would explain why mlb.tv doesn’t show the games in the local area.  So, MASN may be contractually precluded from offering streaming except to its cable subscribers.  

I have mentioned this previously, This just makes sense from the cable companies standpoint and as an explanation as to how MASN is handling streaming. 

[MCO'sFan]

4 hours ago, waroriole said:

There are no real Nationals fans over 30. They’re just former fair weather Orioles fans. Might as well wear pink Red Sox hats. 

There are a many over 60 who were Senator fans and never really switched to the Orioles. 

[Frobby]

6 hours ago, waroriole said:

There are no real Nationals fans over 30. They’re just former fair weather Orioles fans. Might as well wear pink Red Sox hats. 

That’s a ludicrous statement.  There are many fans who were in the DC area in the Senators era who never changed their allegiance to the Orioles.  Or, people who moved to DC from other places and never rooted for the Orioles.

I’m a lifelong Orioles fan, but it really irks me when Orioles fans get condescending towards DC fans.  It’s only by the grace of the Senators’ former owner that Baltimore has its own team.  The Senators waived their territorial rights to allow the Browns to move to Baltimore.   
 

[justD]

12 hours ago, Billy F-Face3 said:

That's a nice piece of trivia I wasn't aware of. I always appreciate learning that type of stuff and digging into it.

In response your 2nd paragraph, I heard an anecdote about another Orioles fan who's friends with a Nationals fan from D.C. (He used to cheer for the Baltimore Orioles before the Nationals came to town.) My Orioles fan acquaintance said his Nationals fan/friend is disillusioned with the Nationals, and since he used to be an Orioles fan long before the Nationals ever existed, he was starting to pay attention to the Orioles a lot more and has been impressed. He cheers for them on occasion. The Orioles fan was trying to recruit his Nationals friend back into Birdland lol.

I've got a friend who lives in Ashton MD and was an Orioles fan until the Nationals came to town.  He said he'd become disillusioned by what Peter Angelos was doing to the team (or was it just from losing?), so he switched over, and did so passionately.  

Last off-season, he wrote out a long, 7-page letter to me, explaining why I would be so much happier being a Nats fan, and all the reasons why I should let go of the Os.  Funny thing is that I don't recall him encouraging me on philosophical grounds, more just his prediction/assumption that the Os would never be the championship-caliber organization that he felt the Nationals were.  Maybe something about how much the Lerner family was willing to spend on the team?

I was so offended, it actually set our friendship back.  His idea of fandom is so foreign to me.  We've been friends 30 years and it was like seeing a new side of him I'd never known.   

(Of course, I'm kidding about the friendship....kinda?)

[geschinger]

3 hours ago, Frobby said:

Me too.   It occurred to me, I wonder if MASN’s contracts with the cable companies preclude it from offering competing services (i.e. streaming) in those areas served by the cable providers.   It seems like that would have been a reasonable ask from the cable companies.   It also would explain why mlb.tv doesn’t show the games in the local area.  So, MASN may be contractually precluded from offering streaming except to its cable subscribers.  

If they aren't contractually prohibited, could they price it at a level that brings in enough subscribers at a price that makes sense to do it?  NESN has a DTC streaming option for the Red Sox, and the price is $30 per month.  I don't think it's doing great.

[Can_of_corn]

12 minutes ago, justD said:

I've got a friend who lives in Ashton MD and was an Orioles fan until the Nationals came to town.  He said he'd become disillusioned by what Peter Angelos was doing to the team (or was it just from losing?), so he switched over, and did so passionately.  

Last off-season, he wrote out a long, 7-page letter to me, explaining why I would be so much happier being a Nats fan, and all the reasons why I should let go of the Os.  Funny thing is that I don't recall him encouraging me on philosophical grounds, more just his prediction/assumption that the Os would never be the championship-caliber organization that he felt the Nationals were.  Maybe something about how much the Lerner family was willing to spend on the team?

I was so offended, it actually set our friendship back.  His idea of fandom is so foreign to me.  We've been friends 30 years and it was like seeing a new side of him I'd never known.   

(Of course, I'm kidding about the friendship....kinda?)

Send them the letter back this off-season with the teams reversed.

[waroriole]

3 hours ago, Frobby said:

That’s a ludicrous statement.  There are many fans who were in the DC area in the Senators era who never changed their allegiance to the Orioles.  Or, people who moved to DC from other places and never rooted for the Orioles.

I’m a lifelong Orioles fan, but it really irks me when Orioles fans get condescending towards DC fans.  It’s only by the grace of the Senators’ former owner that Baltimore has its own team.  The Senators waived their territorial rights to allow the Browns to move to Baltimore.   
 

The Senators have been gone for 63 years. They were gone 45 years before the Nats moved in. You’re saying those Senators fans were so die hard they kept their allegiance for that long?

I’m sure there were some who did, and a few who genuinely like the Nats at any time. So, if it makes you feel better, most Nats fans over 30 are fair weather former Orioles fans. 

[Number5]

7 minutes ago, waroriole said:

The Senators have been gone for 63 years. They were gone 45 years before the Nats moved in. You’re saying those Senators fans were so die hard they kept their allegiance for that long?

I’m sure there were some who did, and a few who genuinely like the Nats at any time. So, if it makes you feel better, most Nats fans over 30 are fair weather former Orioles fans. 

Not quite.  You get partial credit.  The 1st incarnation of the Senators was an NL team in the 1890's.  That is obviously not the team you are referring to.  The 2nd incarnation of the Senators is who you are talking about and they moved to Minnesota in 1961 and the 3rd incarnation was installed as an AL expansion team that same year.  That team moved to Texas after the 1971 season.  So the Senators have been "gone" since 1972, not 1961.

[waroriole]

3 minutes ago, Number5 said:

Not quite.  You get partial credit.  The 1st incarnation of the Senators was an NL team in the 1890's.  That is obviously not the team you are referring to.  The 2nd incarnation of the Senators is who you are talking about and they moved to Minnesota in 1961 and the 3rd incarnation was installed as an AL expansion team that same year.  That team moved to Texas after the 1971 season.  So the Senators have been "gone" since 1972, not 1961.

Ahh, my mistake. Thanks. 

[Frobby]

14 minutes ago, waroriole said:

The Senators have been gone for 63 years. They were gone 45 years before the Nats moved in. You’re saying those Senators fans were so die hard they kept their allegiance for that long?

I’m sure there were some who did, and a few who genuinely like the Nats at any time. So, if it makes you feel better, most Nats fans over 30 are fair weather former Orioles fans. 

Your math isn’t very good.  The Senators moved after the 1971 season.  This is 2023.  That’s 52 years, not 63.   The Nats moved here in 2005.  That’s 34 years, not 45.   

Where do you live, and how long have you lived there?   I’m 66 and I grew up in the Montgomery County suburbs, and still live there.  I’ve been a passionate Orioles fan since I was 9 years old, about 5 years before the Senators moved away.  I prostletized my Senators-fan friends to convert over to the Orioles when the Senators moved.   Some did pretty much right away, some grudgingly did after many years, some never did.  

It’s pretty telling that the year the Nats moved to DC, they drew 2.8 mm fans.  Were they all Oriole fans, or even mostly Orioles fans?  No way.  Do you know how much Orioles’ attendance dropped that year?   It was 120,000.   So clearly the vast majority of fans going to Nats games were not converted Oriole fans, or at least not the kind of fans who could be bothered to make the drive from Washington to Baltimore to see a game.

I could write a long essay on this, but suffice it to say I’m confident that the vast majority of Nats fans never considered themselves to be Orioles fans.  And I say that as diehard O’s fan who has lived near DC and worked in DC for almost all of my life.

[Frobby]

I’m curious, how many Baltimore Colts fans do you know who switched their allegiance to the Redskins during the 12 years that Baltimore didn’t have a team?  And of those, how many stuck with the Redskins once the Ravens moved here?  It’s not exactly the same situation, but it’s similar.