MASN will not televise Nationals or Orioles home exhibition games
That includes when the Nationals play the Phillies at Nationals Park on Saturday and host the Orioles on Monday, as well as when the Orioles host the Nationals at Camden Yards on Tuesday. MASN is jointly owned by the Nationals and Orioles, with the Orioles owning a majority stake.
“The last five months have been extraordinarily challenging for every American,” the MASN spokesperson in a statement Tuesday. “MASN is thrilled to bring back Major League Baseball to the lives of millions of Nats and O’s fans throughout the region starting next week. In order to mitigate the health risks to the production crews to the greatest extent possible, the network will focus its efforts on the regular season games rather than the handful of ‘summer camp’ dress rehearsals.”
Other streaming options for the exhibitions have not been ruled out. MASN would not be a part of those. On Wednesday, the Nationals contracted a video staff filming an intrasquad game that aired for free on MLB.TV. In other markets, summer training has made for semi-regular programming, and many regional sports networks will televise preseason exhibitions. YES Network, partly owned by the New York Yankees, aired a primetime simulated game last week.
MASN has long been criticized by fans for not having a streaming option, requiring a cable subscription to view games in the D.C. market. Those who purchase an MLB.TV package are subject to local blackout restrictions. There has been a clamoring for live baseball since the sport shut down four months ago, but many Nationals and Orioles fans will have to wait a bit longer.
The MASN spokesperson cited a lack of revenue during the coronavirus pandemic as one reason for not airing exhibitions. But the spokesperson mostly focused on health issues, saying the network doesn’t want up to 25 crew members put in danger for a game that doesn’t count. Because of MLB’s health protocols for 2020, broadcast crews will not travel from city to city, leaving it up to home networks — in this case, MASN — to determine plans.
“At the end of the day, we want to go out there and play baseball. We want to play games they can televise so fans have an opportunity at home to watch us play,” Patrick Corbin said Sunday, speaking generally about the sport’s return. “We all miss that.”
