The U.S. House Friday thrust itself into the increasingly nasty battle over Washington Nationals telecasts, urging the parties to strike a deal and threatening government involvement if the fight continues.
The Government Reform Committee, chaired by Rep. Tom Davis, R-Va., wanted answers about why Nationals games aren’t broadcast on Comcast, the region’s leading cable provider. Several other carriers, including Cox, have agreed to air the games.
“I am disappointed that the sophisticated businessmen involved in this dispute have failed to strike a deal,” said Davis, who was joined on the panel by a half dozen members of the region’s delegation. “There should be enough money and good sense to make a deal work for everyone.”
But the panelists weren’t talking a deal. They were going after each other’s throats, accusing one another of monopolistic tendencies and leaving baseball fans in the dark.
The disagreement is between Comcast, owner of Comcast SportsNet, and Peter Angelos, owner of the Baltimore Orioles. Angelos and Major League Baseball launched the Mid-Atlantic Sports Network to air Nationals games — among other programming that isn’t yet on the air — but Comcast refuses to carry the channel. Comcast currently broadcasts Orioles games on SportsNet and has sued to retain those rights.
Angelos, whose team is protected by an antitrust exemption, slammed Comcast as a monopoly that is “holding Nationals fans hostage as a way to weaken MASN.”
“In short, Comcast wants the rights to televise Nationals games for its own regional sports network, and it has used the most aggressive possible tactics to achieve that objective,” Angelos said.
David Cohen, Comcast’s executive vice president, told the committee his company would start airing games immediately if Angelos and MASN open bidding for future Nationals broadcast rights. As the deal stands now, the Orioles and MLB will “pick the pockets” of Comcast customers.
The sides both say they’re willing to talk, but committee members indicated nothing will get done without an intermediary, and they demanded that Major League Baseball get involved. Without a resolution, panel members said, Congress or the Federal Communications Commission might have to join the fray.
MLB President Robert DuPuy said the league would do whatever it could, but there needs to be a “commercial resolution.”
Additional hearing comments
» Rep. Davis, with regard to Nationals fans: “It’s a slap in the face. It’s like getting half a team.”
» Montgomery County Executive Doug Duncan: “Regrettably, Comcast chose to litigate, not negotiate.”
» U.S. Rep. Jim Moran, D-Va.: “I have a lot of misgivings about the owner of a competing team owning the broadcasts rights to the Washington team.”
» Gary McCollum, Cox Communications region manager: “Cox is no longer willing to be the scapegoat for the real culprits. Now more than ever, we are telling our customers why their bills are rising and how sports programmers are holding the fans hostage.”
