MASN to place $99.2 million in private escrow

Move is pending appeal of Orioles’ dispute with Nats

The Orioles-controlled Mid-Atlantic Sports Network will soon place about $99.2 million into a private escrow account pending its appeal of a decision that ran counter to the network in its broadcast rights fee dispute with the Washington Nationals.

The move will follow an Aug. 22 decision by New York Supreme Court Justice Joel M. Cohen awarding the Nationals the sum as additional rights fees from MASN for 2012 through 2016. The money — which a Major League Baseball arbitration panel had earlier ruled the Washington club was owed — would be on top of the $197.6 million that the Nationals already received from the network during the period.

MASN is appealing Cohen’s ruling to the

Appellate Division, First Department. In the meantime, the $99.2 million will be held by a private financial institution pending a decision by the appeals court “on whether to reverse or uphold the arbitration award,” said Jonathan Schiller, a New York-based attorney for MASN and the Orioles.

The Nationals had argued that the $99.2 million should be held in escrow by the court rather than “a third party.” In a recent court filing, MASN countered that “a deposit with the Court requires MASN to pay a 2% [over $2 million] fee to the City of New York and the funds will not generate any interest.”

The court agreed Monday to permit a private escrow account to be used once MASN and the Nationals finalize the terms, according to Schiller. “There should be no difficulty in the parties reaching agreement over those standard terms, as the court recognized and expressed today,” he said.