Nationals Opinions: Nats Need MASN Money
Since the Washington Nationals signed Max Scherzer to a very large $210 million contract, there have been rumblings in the Twitterverse and in blogs by Orioles fans claiming that the Nats obviously don’t need the funds they claim they are owed by MASN. Those people feel that the team could afford Max Scherzer without knowing the outcome of the MASN litigation.
These misguided people are wrong.
The issue regarding the Nationals’ TV rights fees is not an issue of whether the Nationals “need” the money.I have never seen any television rights fee deals based on whether the team needs the money, how wealthy the team owners are, or how high (or low) team attendance is.
Television rights deals are based on ratings, network revenues and size of the television market. Rights deals aren’t based on size of team payroll before the deal is made. The structure of the Scherzer contract, in fact, points to the fact that the Nationals are nervous about the size of the team revenue stream going forward.
The Scherzer contract calls for the pitcher to play for seven years, but get paid out over fifteen years. In other words, the Nationals did not feel that they could commit $30 million a year to one player because they have no idea how much their TV contract will pay the team in the near future. Fifteen million per year was doable based on the team’s current revenue stream. That’s how the contract was structured.
Focusing on the size of the Scherzer contract tells you nothing about what the Nationals TV rights are worth. It goes the same way when you focus on the amount of money Peter Angelos keeps for himself and the Orioles tells you nothing about the size of the Orioles payroll.
In point of fact, even though Angelos has kept the lion’s share of the MASN TV money, the Orioles are not spending that money on players. The way MASN is structured, Angelos is able to claim some of the MASN profits, after paying the rights fees due to the Nationals and the Orioles. Those are not rights fees and as such don’t have to be shared under the MLB revenue sharing formula. It is money Angelos can spend any way he chooses. Usually he chooses not to put it into payroll.
The Orioles had the 15th largest payroll in the majors in 2014, spending $107.5 million while the Washington Nationals payroll in 2014 was $134.7 million, good for 9th in the majors. The Nats get far less of the MASN money, but spend more on their players.
Orioles fans ought to be tweeting about the failure to hold on to Nick Markakis, whom the team could have easily afforded or the organization’s failure to go out and get a couple of stud pitchers to solidify the starting rotation. Those arms they could easily have afforded given the extra MASN cash Angelos has available to spend on players.
I doubt if you ask the Yankees organization if they have enough money, with their $203.8 million payroll, they will say yes. All teams need more money.
More from Max Scherzer
- Washington Nationals: Don’t Hold Your Breathe On A Max Scherzer Reunion
- Washington Nationals: Max Scherzer Scratched From Game 6 Reminiscent Of 2019
- Washington Nationals: Max Scherzer and Trea Turner bring wealth of Postseason experience to Dodgers ahead of Postseason run
- Nationals: Max Scherzer comments have me rethinking my fandom
- Washington Nationals: How Did The Nats Do In The All-Star Game?
Team revenues and money are not just spent on payroll. There’s equipment, scouting, Central American player development academies, front office employees, marketing–the list goes on and on. Organizations with low revenue tend to have to skimp on essentials–such as scouting–which hurts the team in the long run.
The Scherzer signing has nothing to do with the obligation MASN has under its contract to pay the Nationals what their television rights are worth.
Maybe Orioles fans ought to be asking instead–why didn’t the Orioles sign Max Scherzer?