Washington Nationals TV Partner Remains Interested in Rights Past This Season

The Washington Nationals can take their broadcast rights to market for the first time since they moved to the D.C. area 20 years ago.

Jul 12, 2024; Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA; An Washington Nationals hat and glove sit in the dugout during batting practice prior to the game against the Milwaukee Brewers at American Family Field. | Jeff Hanisch-Imagn Images

The Washington Nationals will shop their TV rights for the first time since their move from Montreal, but don’t count out their current provider.

MASN, which has carried Nationals games since it moved to the D.C. area in 2005, is prepared to make a run at trying to retain those rights when they lapse after the season.

Catie Griggs, MASN’s president of business operations, appeared on the SBJ Sports Media Podcast earlier this week and termed the network as “certainly” interested in working with the Nats beyond this season. She also termed the Nationals as ‘great partners.”

Earlier this year the Nationals, MASN and the Baltimore Orioles reached a deal that allowed the Nationals to control their broadcast rights for the first time. Before, the Nats were at the mercy of a deal forged 20 years ago to placate the Orioles, who were concerned about the franchise invading its designated market area.

MASN’s biggest competition could be Ted Leonsis’ D.C.-based Monumental Sports Network, which airs the Washington Wizards and Washington Capitals in the D.C. market.

When Major League Baseball purchased the then-Montreal Expos in 2002, the hope was to move the team to Washington D.C., even though that would put the team just 40 miles away from the Orioles. Then-owner Peter Angelos objected to the move because it would mean the two teams would share the same designated market area for television purposes.

Other MLB teams share market areas, including the Yankees and Mets in New York and the Cubs and White Sox in Chicago. But both have separate television carriers and both have been in their markets for more than a century.

That wasn’t the case with the Nationals and the Orioles.

As part of a deal to assuage Angelos’ concerns, MLB settled with the Orioles and crafted a deal in which the two teams would have their games shown on the same network and be paid the same amount in rights fees. But, the Orioles would own a 90% stake in MASN, while the Nationals would only own 10%.

That means the Orioles get most of the profits. Washington’s percentage has gone up by 1% each year since 2010 but is capped at 33% in 2032. Any television deals for the Nationals can only be in five-year increments.

MASN, like most regional sports networks, is also dealing with subscriber loss. The Banner cited S&P Global Market Intelligence and reported that the number of MASN subscribers has dropped from 5.6 million in 2018 to 3.3 million in 2023.