The Washington Nationals have shared MASN (Mid Atlantic Sports Network) with the Baltimore Orioles since the team moved to DC from Montreal in 2005. The Orioles own the channel and so that relationship has been contentious at times.
Lawsuits regarding this relationship were finally resolved last year, but this week the Nationals announce
d they were leaving MASN and would have MLB produce their games for TV:The Nationals announced today they will begin producing and broadcasting games directly through
Major League Baseball this season, ending a 21-year relationship with MASN.
Nationals.tv, as it is being branded, will broadcast all locally televised games in 2026, available through cable and satellite providers in the region as well as through MLB’s direct-to-consumer streaming platform.
The arrangement mirrors those of six other franchises (Padres, Diamondbacks, Mariners, Rockies, Twins, Guardians) who in recent years have left their regional sports networks and partnered directly with MLB to broadcast their games.
As noted, that makes seven teams who will have their games produced by Major League Baseball. For now, that means Nats fans will have to sign up for DTC streaming to watch their games in-market. Outside the Nationals’ home market, fans would still watch via MLB.TV, which is now owned by ESPN. Eventually, as has been the case for the other six teams involved, the league will sell rights to Nationals games to cable and satellite operators so that subscribers to those services can watch the games in-market.
This is important to baseball in general because of the nine teams whose games were part of the FanDuel Sports Networks. As I noted here last week, the bankruptcy filing for Main Street Sports Group, the owner of FanDuel Sports Networks, has left the 2026 season broadcasts uncertain for those nine teams. Those are the Atlanta Braves, Cincinnati Reds, Detroit Tigers, Kansas City Royals, Los Angeles Angels, Miami Marlins, Milwaukee Brewers, St. Louis Cardinals and Tampa Bay Rays.
There are only three possible solutions for those nine teams for 2026:
- Main Street will figure out a way to restructure and continue operating the FanDuel Sports Networks
- Some other entity will buy those channels — it has been rumored that Fubo is a potential bidder
- The nine teams will have their broadcasts taken over by MLB
The 2026 MLB season begins 10 weeks from today. In my view, the most likely thing to happen is option three — that the league takes over the broadcasts for those nine teams.
At that point MLB is close to a tipping point. If that happens, 16 of the 30 teams will have their local rights owned by the league. Commissioner Rob Manfred would like, eventually, to be able to sell local and national rights in one package. All of MLB’s national rights now end after 2028. If local rights can also be sold at that time, perhaps MLB could get more money for all of those rights. Of course, that would mean convincing teams like the Dodgers, Yankees, Mets, Red Sox and Cubs, among others, who own their local RSN, to give up their rights to the league.
This is worth watching and I’ll continue to report on it as the offseason continues. As always, of course, we await developments.
