From our vantage point as fans, it’s sometimes easy to forget that professional sports is a business first.
As much as team and city pride factor into the equation, the main job of the teams representing the MLB, NBA, NFL, NHL and other leagues is to make money — and those leagues do it exceptionally well.
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They make money by selling a product; sometimes, a factor in that product is animosity toward a storied rival.
Major League Baseball’s Washington Nationals and Baltimore Orioles may play in different leagues (Washington is in the National League, and the Orioles are in the American League), but the bonds that connect their heated rivalry are strong.
Their stadiums being less than an hour’s drive from each other, the fact that the Orioles’ previous owner, Peter Angelos, spent decades successfully keeping a team out of DC, and the general rivalry between neighboring Washington and Baltimore have all contributed to stoking a sharp competition between the two franchises.
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But this week, the two came to a lucrative financial settlement that could alleviate some of the bad blood between the two baseball franchises.
Nationals and Orioles go from the baseball field to the courtroom
Keibert Ruiz of the Washington Nationals hits a single against the Houston Astros during a spring training game at Cacti Park of the Palm Beaches on March 2, 2025, in West Palm Beach, Fla. Soon enough he might have a new marketing-partner patch on his jersey.
A bit of history out of the Wiki pages: The Washington Senators, founded 1901, were an original member of the American League. The team moved to Minnesota in 1960 and became the Twins. An expansion team called the Senators played in Washington from 1961 to 1971 and then moved to Arlington, Texas, to become the Texas Rangers. In 2005 the Montreal Expos became the Nats.
Angelos was one of the main forces opposing the effort to bring a franchise back to Washington. In his view, the DC region was part of Orioles Country, and to give up part of his territory he wanted some concessions from any team on the Potomac.
To reach a deal, the Washington ownership group agreed to cede television rights for the Nationals to MASN, the Orioles-owned television network.
The Orioles would pay the Nationals a yearly fee to broadcast the games.
That agreement had been in place since the Montreal Expos franchise officially moved to Washington in 2005. At the outset, the Orioles owned 90% of MASN; the Nats owned 10% and based on the agreement, that stake was to increase to a maximum of 33% by 2032.
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But for years the Nationals have felt that their payout from the deal undervalues their broadcast rights tremendously, leading the team to take legal action to recoup money it says it’s owed.
The Nats pressed for arbitration outside the U.S. court system, but in recent years, the Nats and Orioles have battled it out in court over more than $200 million in fees.
Nats and O’s settle $200 million dispute
On Monday, MLB said the two sides had reached a “final resolution of all issues related to the MASN dispute.”
For the current season Nats fans will still tune into MASN to watch games under a new one-year contract. But for the 2026 season and beyond, the Nationals owners will be free to shop their television rights for the first time.
The 10-year litigation will also be dismissed as part of the resolution. Financial terms of the settlement were not made public.
Mark Lerner, principal owner of the Washington Nationals, is moving quickly following Monday’s decision.
The Nationals were the final baseball team to never have a jersey sponsorship or a stadium naming rights partner. Those types of deals can be extremely lucrative, often worth eight figures each annually.
The Nats have now hired marketing and talent-rep agency Excel Sports Management to shop those rights, according to Forbes. Those deals could be valued at more than $20 million annually.
“Summertime is when the Nats are top of mind for our fan base, and we think that’s the perfect time to make an announcement,” Mike Carney, the Nationals’ chief revenue officer, told Forbes.
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The company is reportedly looking for a stadium deal that lasts at least 20 years and a jersey sponsorship deal that lasts at least three years.
According to Forbes, the Nationals are ranked as the 16th most valuable franchise in baseball. They were valued at $2 billion in 2024, with $355 million in revenue and $63 million in operating income.
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