jay hatfield

Major League Baseball president Bob DuPuy is saying that the Nats will
appear on local broadcast television.

In an article published today by Eric Fisher of the Washington Times, DuPuy
is quoted as saying, "the Nationals games will be on TV, without question.
That I am not worried about."

See: "http://www.washtimes.com/sports/20050318-121841-8453r.htm"

Of course, if an agreement with Angelos does not happen, and if MLB does not
have the stomach for a law suit, I'm not entirely clear what alternatives
most non-dish owners would have to follow the team, aside from sauntering
down to a local sports bar.

Atlanta/TBS broadcasts most of the Braves home and away games. Presumably
we would be able to see the Nats when they visit Atlanta on April 11-April
13, July 26-July 28, and August 29 - September 1. TBS will also likely
broadcast the games from RFK when the Braves visit April 20 - April 21, May
30 - June 2, and September 9 - September 11. This is a total of 19 TV
dates.

The Chicago Cubs/WGN will likely broadcast the games they play at RFK May
13-May 15 and the Nats will play in Chicago from July 1 -July 3. The total
here is 6 possible TV games.

Combining the two cable supertations, the Nats might appear in as many as 25
games that a normal resident of the Washington area could watch. That's not
much, given the 162 game season.

comish4lif

I'm not a lawyer - nor do I play one on TV.

My understanding is that if MLB wants to air the Nats games, the
Orioles won't be able to stop them. And I think that MLB is very, very
close to the point where they will go forward without the blessing of
the Orioles.

If Angelos sues, I doubt that a judge would issue an injunction to stop
MLB from airing the Nats games. Angelos is claiming this would cause
"irreparable harm" - that's hard to prove - in a court of law, "harm"
is very different from "irreparable harm." I have no doubt that the
Nats very presence causes financial harm to his franchise - but not
irreparable harm. That is, the Nats aren't the only reason for folks to
not go to Orioles games.

It will also create the unique occasion where a member (an Exec Council
member at that) of a monopolistic cartel sues the overseeing body of
the cartel. I firmly believe that under this operating environment, MLB
owns the TV rights and the has the authority to redraw territories when
necessary. I don't believe that the Orioles claim that what was once
theirs should always be theirs, is a legally defensible position. If
the Orioles position were to be upheld, it would mean that no MLB team
would be able to relocate and no MLB expansion would be possible -
without the express permission of the prior TV territory's owner. MLB
has offered some financial relief to the Orioles, I think it would be a
wise business decision to accept MLB's best offer.

jay hatfield

Many thanks for your perspective. Keep posting!

rufref

I think all the Washington TV stations, radio stations, and newspapers
should discontinue covering the 0's until Mr. Angelos goes broke or sells
the team.

rufref

jim

I love baseball and have supported my local teams when close enough to
the Reds, Braves and other teams. But, I have lived in Northern
Virginia since 93 and have never traveled to see the O's. Angelos is
a bum and has always been one. People in our area know him for the
shyster he is and now more of the US know what kind of character he
lacks.

He has done everything possible to keep baseball out of our area and
for that he get's no sympathy from me. RFK will likely sell out all
tickets for the baseball hungry masses of the region and those dollars
are what counts IMV. Some buyer is going to have to pony up a big
purse to buy the Nats and the dollars are going to dictate baseball's
future in the market. The O's are going to end up pissing off the few
in the DC market who may have crossed over and went to Baltimore!

I have a number of friends who also bought season tickets for Nats
after traveling to see O's for years. They seem to have went for the
baseball opportunity - not necessarily the O's. Good riddance IMV to
Angelos. With some more PR effort he will drive down the real value
of his own team!!!!!

allen seth dunn

I agree. I believe Angelos is the sole reason why the Nats don't have a TV
deal in place. He thinks if he can secretly keep a TV deal from happening,
that he can go out and public and say "see, the Nats can't get a TV Deal in
place, so how do you think they are going to consistently support MLB?". I
am hoping that more and more people are noticing this charade by Mr. Angelos
for what it truly is, and petition Washington, DC TV stations, radio
stations, newspapers, and any other media source from covering the Orioles
until he backs down and tries to move on with life. If there are any
circulating on the internet, post a link to it here, and I'm sure you will
be able to get many more signatures from me and other readers of this usenet group.

jim

This guy is a businessman and attorney. He made his money chasing
ambulances. He is not going to back down or move on based on his
history. MLB needs to hit him with lawyers and make it too expensive
for him to keep up this crap. Don't be afraid to take him to court
and best thing is to get to a friendly court first before he goes back
to one of his own friendly judges!

We have overcome the biggest problem and have baseball now. It is not
the details. It will become much easier if some owner emerges with
bigger pockets and personna to push back! With the season ticket
sales booming, somebody is going to find the price has increased.