Orioles and Nationals Resolve Media Rights Dispute in A $608 Million Deal

One of the biggest feuds of baseball wasn’t even the one being fought on the field. The TV rights battle was between the Baltimore Orioles and the Washington Nationals. That has ended rather peacefully, as both the Orioles and the Nationals have agreed on their teams’ local media rights for the 2017-2021 seasons.

The saga that has been going on for a decade has led to much bad blood among the fans of both of these teams. Although this isn’t the first time a decision has been taken in this case. But it certainly is the first time that both teams have agreed to accept the verdict.

The Baltimore Orioles – Washington Nationals’ dispute ends amicably

In a surprising twist, a dispute that had stretched for a decade ended in an anti-climax. For years fans waited to see whether the teams would come to an understanding or not. As of now, the teams have done just that. As the Front Office Sports reported with the current MLB arbitration decision, both the Orioles and Nationals are due $304 million for all of those years. This has amounted to nearly $61 million annually. With this, the feud has ended, at least for the time being.

The dispute was originally for the 2012-2016 TV rights payment to the Washington Nationals. The majority Orioles’ owned MASN has the broadcast rights for the Nats’ games. Interestingly MASN holds the local TV rights of the Nats for an indefinite period. In other words, they have it for perpetuity. As a result, disputes started emerging about what the payment should be to the Nats.

The Nats asked for $475 million while the MASN proposed the payment should be $197.5 million. This led to both the Nats and Orioles heading for the court. In 2014 the first decision came where the court said that the Nats were owed $298.1 million. The Orioles appealed on account of the Nats’ law firm having MLB executives. As a result that decision for thrown out.

Then earlier this year in March, the second decision was taken where the Nats were given a slightly lower amount of $296.8 million, and then the Orioles went to the Supreme Court to appeal for this. All of this led to some bad blood amongst the fans who thought that the Orioles were deliberately not paying the Nats to make them leave Washington.

WATCH THIS STORY: Top 5 MLB Players Without World Series Title

But all of that has led to this moment where the teams have surprisingly agreed rather peacefully about their payments for the 2017-21 seasons. So for now at least, this rivalry has entered into a truce. One wonders how long this will remain like this.

Read more: Baltimore Orioles’ CEO Provides Massive Declaration on the Organization’s Future Amidst Ongoing Legal Battle