Negotiators for Major League Baseball and the Baltimore Orioles ended their fourth straight day of talks last night without an agreement that would clear the way for local television broadcasts of Washington Nationals games, which start in 10 days.
The two sides are trying to settle on a financial package that would offset the impact the Nationals would have on the Baltimore club.
MLB President Robert DuPuy and Orioles owner Peter Angelos declined to comment on the negotiations last night. It was not clear whether the negotiations will resume today.
Baseball has agreed to guarantee Angelos that the Orioles would fetch at least $365 million if he chooses to sell the team, but they have yet to agree on how Baltimore and Washington will share the region's television audience.
Angelos wants the Orioles to own and run a Baltimore-Washington regional sports network that would pay the Nationals fair market value for their television rights, and then allow the Orioles the opportunity to keep most of the profits from the sports network. The Orioles' owner acquired the television rights when he purchased the franchise for $173 million in 1993.
Baseball is reluctant to cede control of the Nationals' television rights, fearing it would hurt the value of the Nationals.
The league's 29 owners bought the Nationals, then known as the Montreal Expos, for $120 million in February 2002.
At least seven individuals have placed $100,000 deposits with MLB for the right to try to purchase the Nationals. The auction is in its early stages and cannot move forward until the league resolves the Orioles question.
-- Thomas Heath
