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 In a decision on Wednesday, Supreme Court Justice Lawrence Marks in
Manhattan overturned a June 2014 ruling by a Major League Baseball
panel that the Mid-Atlantic Sports Network should pay the Nationals
about $60 million a year, rather than $40 million.
MASN had obtained broadcast rights to Nationals games after Orioles
owner Peter Angelos agreed to let the Nationals relocate from
Montreal, where they were known as the Expos, starting with the 2005
season.
The Washington, D.C. area had been considered part of the Orioles'
market since the former Washington Senators relocated after the 1971
season and became the Texas Rangers.
But the Orioles and Nationals in 2012 were unable to agree on rights
fees, prompting the arbitration and subsequent litigation.
In ruling for MASN, Marks pointed to evidence that the arbitration
panel might have appeared biased toward the Nationals.
He noted concerns raised by the Orioles that the law firm Proskauer
Rose represented the Nationals, despite concurrently representing
Major League Baseball and representatives of teams that made up the
arbitration panel.
"MASN and the Orioles have established that their well-documented
concerns fell entirely on deaf ears," he wrote.
Marks suggested that the parties find a neutral arbitrator to
resolve their differences.
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A Nationals spokeswoman said the team is "assessing" Marks'
decision.
The Orioles welcomed the decision, after an arbitration that lacked
"fundamental fairness," its lawyer Arnold Weiner said. "We are
hopeful that this fairness will be achieved in a future and
independent process."
Major League Baseball said it is reviewing the decision. Proskauer
Rose was not a defendant in the case.
(Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; Additional reporting by
Steve Ginsburg in Washington, D.C.)
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