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Comcast Will Air Nats Games, Ending Dispute
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The roots of the dispute go back to the arrangements made for the Nationals' TV rights when the team was brought to Washington. The Orioles were given TV rights to the Washington area by Major League Baseball in 1981. When the Nationals came to Washington, the Orioles agreed to share the territory and dropped their opposition to the franchise's relocation in return for control of local television broadcasts of the new team's games.
Comcast's Cohen has called the agreement to compensate the Orioles the "original sin" of the current disagreement.
Orioles games, which are shown on Comcast SportsNet, will move to Mid-Atlantic next season. Comcast has sued Mid-Atlantic and the Orioles in Maryland Circuit Court to prevent that move. The case has been thrown out twice and is under appeal. In the meantime, Comcast refused to air Nationals games.
That case will be dropped, as will a complaint that Mid-Atlantic had filed against Comcast with the Federal Communications Commission, which referees such media disputes.
While the two sides have been under pressure from politicians and fans for months, what appears to have triggered the deal was a deadline set by the FCC. In July, the agency gave Mid-Atlantic the right to send the dispute to an arbitrator or administrative judge. The sports network had until yesterday to decide which route to take.
"It's always helpful to give parties deadlines," said FCC Commissioner Robert M. McDowell, who prodded the agency to act on the dispute.
Robert White, a spokesman for Rep. Thomas M. Davis III (R-Va.), who had publicly pressured the two sides to come to an agreement, caught the mood of many fans when he said: "We are pleased that they have come to some resolution. We only wish it had happened sooner."
Staff writer Barry Svrluga and staff researcher Meg Smith contributed to this report.
