by Hoosiers
MASN has been paying money to the Orioles and Nats all along – likely according to the Bortz formula which was the intention of the Orioles of how rights fees would be paid to the team – but was not expressed clearly in the contract.
The original RSDC decision was for a significant amount above what MASN was paying out – about $15M-$20M per team per year for five years – that’s $150M-$200M more than what has been paid out and MASN certainly doesn’t have that kind of $ as excess cash.
While I have generally agreed with the Os/MASN perspective in these deliberations, one has to keep in mind that a similar RSDC decision of $56M or so in annual rights fees to both teams would mean that MASN has shorted that money to the Os as well as the Nats – and that money has found its way mostly into the pockets of MASN investors instead – chiefly Peter Angelos.