The Orioles and Nationals have settled over MASN rights.
As you may know, The Baltimore Orioles and Washington Nationals share a network to show their games on. MASN, The Mid Atlantic Sports Network, has been a joint effort since the Nationals arrived in our nation's capital in 2005, looking to relocate as the Montreal Expos. However, all of that comes to an end. 2025 will be the last season the Nationals stick with MASN as their primary carrier and are free to explore different options for 2026 and beyond. So, sadly, you will only be able to watch Orioles games after this year on MASN and not have the luxury of switching between the two teams or watching one squad play when the other has a day off. Regardless, it was best for both sides to go their own way and stop arguing over the issue for so long. I'll dive into the details starting now.
When the Nationals first got started in 2005, they latched on to what was the Orioles' network at the time. Since MASN was controlled by Baltimore, money made by Nationals' games would mostly go to the Orioles and put the Nats in a tough situation in selling their TV rights openly. The Lerner family faced problems when exploring a sale of the club after Ted Lerner passed away in 2023, as they were unappealing to many because they didn't have a controlling hand in MASN, and a new owner would have to accept this condition. This contributed to the Nationals not spending in free agency as well as minimal spring training coverage with MASN barely being a source of income. Late Orioles owner Peter Angelos spearheaded the operation to put MASN in the O's favor, claiming this was fair since the Orioles were now sharing the territory. However, much has changed since then. Bud Selig, former MLB Commissioner, is no longer in that position. Peter Angelos died last year resulting in his family selling the team to David Rubenstein and his group. It felt like it was time for a change. Fortunately, we can put all that behind us. All legal claims have been dismissed, and the Nationals will receive most of the compensation they asked for, which was over 300 million dollars. In conclusion, after 2025, the Nats control their own destiny of who broadcasts their games. A prime candidate to pick up the ball club is Monumental Sports Network, a streaming service on the come up trying to build a network for DC sports fans. The network is run by Ted Leonsis, who owns all the teams that play in Capital One Arena such as the Capitals, Wizards and Mystics. He even offered two billion dollars to buy the Nationals from the Lerner family when they were exploring a sale in 2022 but was rejected in his offer. Now, he has a chance to pick up their TV rights and add it to a rapidly growing service that has plenty of potential to earn favor in the DC circle.
Overall, it feels really good this issue comes to an end. From my perspective, it was a really ugly issue to hear about every other day, and it's nice that David Rubenstein seems to be truly overhauling everything for the Orioles and bringing in a new optimistic era to Baltimore baseball. Being an Orioles fan, I can say from experience the Angelos family didn't do anyone any favors, and they created a really bad situation between the two teams that never had to be created. The Orioles will be able to fully control a network that was always theirs, and maybe even bring the All-Star Game back to Charm City now that the dust has settled, and the Nationals can seek the better opportunities they have deserved since 2005. It's a win-win, and that's all we want in this situation.
Big shoutout to this article I found that gave me most of the information provided in this article, please go read it if you want to know more. Nationals, Orioles end years-long dispute over broadcast rights
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