Major League Baseball is at a crossroads.
The most pressing item on the league’s agenda is the pending lockout, given that its collective bargaining agreement with the MLB Players Association runs out after the 2026 World Series.
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The player lockout is basically a decennial tradition at this point, as the MLBPA, perhaps the most successful labor organization — not just in sports, but in general —and the league’s 30 owners usually agree to about 10 years of peace before they squabble over every crumb of the revenue pie.
It’s a substantial pie.
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MLB generated a record $12.1 billion in gross revenue in 2024, a half a billion dollar increase from the previous year. “Our business was strong,” Rob Manfred, MLB commissioner, told Sportico last year.
A decade ago, that number was a reported $9 billion, meaning the league has increased revenue by 33%.
This increase was driven mainly by an uptick in attendance. The league reported league-wide attendance of 71 million, the highest it has seen since 2017.
Over 30% of the league’s revenue comes from seating and suites, according to 2022 data. This percentage is much more than the 26% and 17% the NBA and NFL see from ticket sales, respectively.
Unlike the NBA and NFl, MLB gets more money from attendance revenue than it does from its national media rights deals.
But the strategy for the league’s broadcast future is at the heart of a mishap that has fans of one team furious with their hometown club.
The Baltimore Orioles own the Mid-Atlantic Sports Network.
Image source: Jess Rapfogel/Getty Images
Baltimore Orioles make egregious payment mistake
Last year, MLB chose to exercise the opt-out clause in its broadcast contract with ESPN, meaning at the end of this season, at least a portion of the league’s broadcast rights will become a free agent.
MLB’s current broadcast contracts, which also include deals with Turner Sports and Fox Sports, bring in less than $2 billion annually. But the league is reportedly in talks with Amazon, NBCUniversal, and Netflix, according to Puck’s John Ourand.
At the same time, the league’s regional sports network is crumbling, as more teams pursue a direct-to-consumer streaming model.
It’s in this environment that the Mid-Atlantic Sports Network launched its own DTC service MASN+ this week.
Fans of the Baltimore Orioles and Washington Nationals can pay $19.99 per month or $89.99 for the rest of the season to watch their teams play, with no blackout dates or cable contracts required.
There’s just one problem. Some fans who signed up for the service and opted for the more cost-effective full-year option were met with a rude surprise.
“Many who opted for the $89.99 cost of a season-long subscription to MASN+, as opposed to the $19.99 per month option, were hit with a head-rattling mistake charge of $8,999,” The Baltimore Sun reported.
MASN, which is jointly owned by the Baltimore Orioles and Washington Nationals with a 77%/23% respective split, has since said that it is aware of the issue, which it says only “affected a handful of subscribers.”
Those handful of subscribers took to social media to share their stories. “I tried to sign up and they tried to charge my card $8,999.00,” said bobcatgoldthwait. “They forgot a decimal. Fortunately my bank auto-rejected that charge, but I would not sign up right now.”
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