According to the Associated Press, the New York Court of Appeals has scheduled oral arguments for March 14, 2023, in the long-running dispute between the Baltimore Orioles and Washington Nationals over television rights fees. Hopefully, this will be one step closer to this issue is resolved once and for all.
After agreeing in September 2021 to consider the case, the state’s highest court said this week that it will hear arguments on the question of “whether courts have the power, after vacating an arbitration award based on ‘evident partiality’ related to the forum, to order rehearing in a forum other than that provided for in the parties’ arbitration agreement.”
The Mid-Atlantic Sports Network was established in March 2005 after the Montreal Expos relocated to Washington and became the Nationals, moving into Baltimore’s exclusive broadcast territory since 1972. The Orioles have a controlling interest in the network.
MASN paid the Nationals for 2012-16 what the Orioles proposed: $197.5 million. Washington argued it should be paid $475 million.
The dispute between MASN and the Washington Nationals has significantly crippled the ability of the Nationals to have another source of revenue. It has even hampered the ability for the Lerners to sell the team.
