Orioles, Nationals met with skepticism by NY appellate court

NEW YORK (AP) A five-judge appellate panel in New York State Supreme Court questioned all sides with skepticism in the long-running television dispute between the Washington Nationals and Baltimore Orioles.

The teams and Major League Baseball argued for about 40 minutes Friday before an Appellate Division panel.

An arbitration decision by a three-man panel of baseball executives in 2014 awarded the Nationals about $298 million for the team's 2012-16 television rights from the Mid-Atlantic Sports Network, which is owned by both teams and controlled by the Orioles. That decision was thrown out in 2015. The judge ruled the arbitration was improper because the law firm that represented the Nationals at times worked for MLB and the teams of all three arbitrators.

Washington and Major League Baseball want the arbitration decision reinstated or to have the case sent back to the sport's Revenue Sharing Definitions Committee for a new hearing. The Orioles want an alternative arbitration.