The reason why the Orioles had to be compensated is that the Orioles and Nationals' territories overlapped. Howard and Anne Arundel were exclusive territories of the Orioles and within 15 miles from Washington and the Nationals' exclusive territories. Arlington, Houston and San Antonio share no such problem (over 150 miles!) and require no such compensation.

 

That is not the reason given by MLB. MLB said that because the Orioles held claim to areas south of Washington, both teams settled on MASN as a partnership to keep both teams on TV throughout the former O's territory.

 

The Astros are extremely defensive about San Antonio to the point they tried to get out of their FSN contract to avoid being shafted to a spare channel to air the Rangers. Big money is to be expected from the Marlins for those San Antonio-Austin Territory rights and to buy into the rest of Texas and Oklahoma.

 

The Devil Rays made a deal with then Marlins-owned FSN Florida to avoid paying a huge fee for the rights to Tampa Bay. Problem is the Astros and Rangers don't own a TV network and have long-term relationships with FSN Southwest.

 

Cool your heels because this is a very large wall along the even larger walls of getting Bexar Voter Approval, MLB Owner approval, getting the Marlins private financing, getting the Marlins a minority partner locally (approved by MLB too), and MLB determining if San Antonio is viable.

 

Samson's comments today make the point of MLB's largest doubt, viability. The Marlins have Jacksonville as part of their market, which is only a bit smaller than San Antonio, should they move there if a stadium is to be had?

Didn't we already make a thread about this? :confused

 

I don't even want to think about them moving but if they did, I'd still be a fan. The Marlins are the only South Florida team I care about.

If they stayed in Florida, then yes. Otherwise they would be a completely different team and I don't see any reason to root for them when I have another favorite team (the Cubs, which isn't quite the same but still) and would probably (stomache churns) root for the Rays.

*sticks fingers in ears and goes la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la to block out all thoughts of team moving*

NO i wouldnt be a fan its GO RED sox then :confused

I'll root for D-Train and Cabs till the day I die.

You mean the reports of MLB in which by all accounts MLB didn't need to offer the Orioles anything, but did so because Angelos is a respected member of the club and an instrumental figure in relations with the player's union and exporting the game?

I agree the precedent has been set, but the situation is not quite apt. I suspect that MLB owners will be very relunctant to extend that precedent further, else force Loria to cough up funds this time and other owners for future relocation efforts. I consider it high unlikely they'd do this to stifle the efforts of moving a revenue sharing beneficiary into a situation where they'll be a benefactor.

 

From my readings of Doug Pappas, Andrew Zimbalist, Maury Brown and others who study baseball's rules and analyze its finances, there is nothing that prevents one team from moving into another's team exclusive territory or assumed broadcast region. Except in which case they enter into their exclusive territory (neither the Astros or Rangers have such, according to the 1999 MLB rules reviewed by Pappas) or within 15 miles, in which case permission and monetarial concessions are required.

You are confusing blackout provisions, which exist to protect local broadcasters, with a team's exclusive broadcast territory. There is no so such thing as the latter. A team's territory is fluid. If a Palm Beach broadcaster finds it worth the effort to air Yankee games, much like the radio stations in Tampa and your hometown, there's nothing the Marlins can do to stop it. The Yankees need not to make any concessions to the Marlins. The Marlins can try a number of ways of hindering their efforts, such as refusing them from broadcasting from within the stadium or buying out the broadcaster and/or its rights contract with the Yankees, but there's absolutly nothing that protects the Marlins or any team from another team from entering an agreement to broadcast in their region. If a team in San Antonio wants to enter broadcast agreements with markets such as San Antonio, Austin, Corpus Christi, El Paso or even Dallas and Houston, if they can find one willing, they can. With absolutly no concessions necessary.