Peter G. Angelos could sell the Baltimore Orioles for almost $200 million more than he paid for the team 11 years ago under terms of a deal he is negotiating with Major League Baseball to compensate him for the Montreal Expos moving to Washington, sources said.
Angelos would also receive 60 percent of the revenue from a regional sports network and MLB would guarantee that the Orioles' revenue would never fall below an average of what they earned before the Expos moved here, sources said.
These D.C. United soccer fans at RFK have approximate view from home plate once stadium is upgraded for baseball.
(Preston Keres -- The Washington Post)
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Neither Angelos nor baseball officials would comment publicly on the talks, which are close to being completed.
The value of the deal being discussed is difficult to calculate but it appears to guarantee that the team will always be financially sound under Angelos. The Baltimore attorney led a group that bought the team for $173 million in 1993, and Forbes magazine last April estimated the Orioles' worth at $296 million and local revenue at $129 million in 2003. The regional sports network, which would televise both Orioles and Expos games, has yet to be formed.
The negotiations reflect baseball's desire to make peace with Angelos, who has threatened to block a transfer of a team to Washington. While some legal experts doubt he could prevail in court, baseball is seeking an amicable settlement that would remove all obstacles.
Still, if the negotiations fail, baseball has announced it will move the team as long as the D.C. Council approves a $440 million stadium financing package.
Fay Vincent, a former baseball commissioner, said yesterday that the deal under discussion seems very favorable for Angelos.
"I think they would do almost whatever he wants," he said. "They are hurting his franchise very badly. He has a right to retrieve a fair amount of money. The owners are establishing a tough precedent: They are saying we can gang up and move a franchise into your area and remove some of the value of [your] franchise. I'm sure he is holding out for a very substantial payment."
Meantime, D.C. Mayor Anthony A. Williams launched a public campaign to persuade District residents to support his plan to tax the city's largest businesses to pay for a new ballpark for the former Montreal Expos.
Yesterday, Williams (D) met with labor leaders and neighborhood activists from the proposed stadium site, telling them that baseball will be a powerful engine for economic development and "a great amenity for our city."
Many experts argue strongly that new stadiums bring little, if any, real economic benefit to a city. Stanford University economist Roger Noll calls them "a toy."
Williams also met over breakfast with council members.
"As of yesterday, a new era in baseball began in our city. Today, the real work to make that happen begins," Williams told reporters at a noon news conference.
Angelos said earlier this week that he was willing to accept a team in Washington if MLB met certain conditions. With negotiations moving toward some resolution, Commissioner Bud Selig announced Wednesday that the Expos would be moved to Washington in time for Opening Day 2005.
