Orioles’ TV network MASN is exploring new options for fans

Pikesville retiree Steve Weiner’s Orioles-watching world — where he and his wife settle in to watch games from their recliner — was interrupted the past few seasons when some of the contests shifted from the team’s network to streaming platforms he doesn’t get.

His son, Joe Weiner, of Westminster, a generation younger than his 72-year-old dad, has the opposite problem: He can’t stream Orioles games because he doesn’t subscribe to cable, which he considers old-fashioned.

The divergent complaints illustrate the challenges facing the Orioles-owned Mid-Atlantic Sports Network. Like other regional sports networks, MASN must cope with the mass exodus of viewers away from traditional cable bundles. With subscribers dropping cable — often in favor of streaming services — there is less money available to pay regional sports networks to distribute games.

MASN, also like similar networks, is trying to thread a needle to satisfy two very different — and slightly disgruntled — fan bases.

There are fans like Steve Weiner, a longtime cable subscriber who resents when Apple TV+ or another streaming service broadcasts an occasional Orioles game that Weiner believes his cable package should have included. “It is frustrating when it happens because my wife and I want to watch the games,” said Weiner, who wrote to the Orioles to complain last year, closing the email “Yours in Disgust.” In March, MASN and Comcast reached an agreement to keep the network as part of Xfinity’s cable packages — but moved MASN and MASN2 to an elevated, more expensive tier.

Then there are fans like Joe Weiner, 41, an Orioles season-ticket holder who can hardly believe in 2024 that he can’t directly stream the club’s games without a third party such as a cable operator, satellite company or streaming service such as Fubo, which offers MASN as part of a broader channel lineup.

“I would gladly pay them,” he said, referring to MASN or the Orioles, “if I could have a streaming service available.”

MASN is evaluating new ways to expand its reach, perhaps by partnering with new platforms or adding the sort of “direct to consumer” streaming service that younger fans want, according to a source familiar with the network’s thinking. The source asked to remain anonymous because there has been no announcement of MASN’s proposals, which he said were exploratory.

“It’s not the same industry it was when MASN was developed [in 2005],” said Karyl Leggio, a Loyola University Maryland finance professor. “Streaming has become extraordinarily popular.”

MASN is majority-owned by the Orioles and shared with the Washington Nationals. Private equity billionaire David Rubenstein’s purchase of the club, approved by Major League Baseball in March, included MASN.

The network has a mobile app, and subscribers of its cable or other partners can stream Orioles games.

Fans can also buy an MLB package and stream every out-of-market game for about $150 a year. But Orioles games are blacked out in their own market.

Establishing a stand-alone streaming option for Orioles fans would be complicated. That’s because of concern that “direct-to-consumer” streaming diminishes the value of existing TV deals. Such a new offering would supplement but also essentially compete against the more traditional consumer model.

“What it comes down to is, ‘Where is your fan base?’ Because it’s an absolutely bifurcated market,” Leggio said.

“The older fans like the consistency of settling down every evening and watching their team play. The younger fans like to be able to watch their shows wherever and whenever,” she said.

Streaming options are important to MLB’s push to attract younger audiences. The MLB Network and several teams’ games can be streamed without subscribing to larger packages.

MLB has in recent years accelerated its social media efforts, shortened games with a pitch clock, and taken other measures to attract more viewers, particularly younger ones. It says it knows younger fans — who have often avoided or ditched traditional cable models — believe there are too many restrictions on streaming games on their phones or other devices.

MASN’s finances are private, and it’s not publicly known how the network is faring. Officials declined to comment for this story. In July, it announced that the Orioles’ viewership was up 35%. It said it was averaging 100,000 viewers per quarter hour in the Baltimore market — up from approximately 74,000 through the first half of the 2023 season.

The Orioles have advanced to the postseason the past two years. The last time that happened was 1996-97.

But all the regional sports networks have felt the impact of cable “cord-cutting.” Disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic also hurt the networks.