BALTIMORE — The Baltimore Orioles on Tuesday lost a civil lawsuit against the Washington Nationals over television rights fees generated from their co-owned Mid Atlantic Sports Network (MASN).
The dispute dates back to 2004 when Major League Baseball (MLB) purchased the Montreal Expos and relocated them to Washington D.C. to later become the Nationals.
At the time the Orioles objected because they owned exclusive tv rights in a seven-state market including D.C. and feared the Nationals would impact their revenue.
As result MASN was born so games for both teams could be telecast.
Under the agreement the Orioles were given 90 percent ownership of the network, only to be dropped to 67 percent by 2032, eventually leaving the Nats with 33 percent ownership.
In turn MASN would still pay each team the same amount for the right to broadcast games.
Still since the Orioles maintained a majority stake in the network, they would come away with more profits.
This sparked debate as to whether the Nationals were receiving fair market value from MASN.
MASN proposed paying the Nationals $34 million per year beginning in 2012 with that amount rising to about $45.6 million by 2016.
Attorneys for the Nationals rejected that offer, instead valuating themselves at $110 million annually..
Both sides failed to reach an agreement, sending the dispute to mediation and then before an MLB committee.
One of the leading figures behind the committee was current MLB Commissioner Robert Manfred.
Ultimately they ruled the Nationals should be paid $53 million for 2012 and $67 million by 2016.
The Orioles and MASN reacted by suing MLB and the Nationals despite the threat of sanctions.
A judge eventually threw out the committee's recommendation leading to ongoing litigation that ended up before New York's highest court.
Throughout the process MASN continued paying the Nationals less than what they were to receive per the committee.
On Tuesday the New York Court of Appeals ruled the committee's ruling should have stood all along.
Now the Orioles and MASN essentially owe the Nationals roughly $100 million.
In their unanimous decision the court ordered the parties to "resolve any disputes over nonpayment of those fees in accordance with their agreement."
Read the full court ruling here.
