MASN to Broadcast Four Orioles Spring Training Games

MASN plans to broadcast Orioles games from Florida later this month

Over the weekend, a report from Dan Connolly of The Athletic detailed plans for the Mid-Atlantic Sports Network (MASN) to broadcast four Baltimore Orioles Spring Training games later this month. According to Connolly, MASN’s Spring Training slate in recent years has included seven games for both the Orioles and the Washington Nationals.

The news came after the first week of Grapefruit League play had gotten underway, lagging behind the Orioles Radio Network’s schedule announcement from February, which included 12 games called across the team’s 40 stations. As of now, four of the scheduled games for the Orioles Radio Network have already taken place.

A specific reason for MASN’s lack of an announcement before games began is unclear, according to Connolly. Potential reasons mentioned in Connolly’s report include safety restrictions related to COVID-19 and the network’s inability to guarantee a game’s length of play for the purpose of selling advertising spots, as Spring Training games can vary from the standard nine innings to as short as five innings by the discretion of the managers.

Another reason MASN may not be prepared to broadcast Spring Training games in 2021 involves the contracts of longtime broadcasters Gary Thorne and Jim Hunter, both of which the network will reportedly not be renewing for the 2021 season.

As of the conclusion of Baltimore’s 1-0 loss to the Minnesota Twins on Tuesday, the Orioles have 19 games remaining on their Grapefruit League schedule, including 10 games at their home facility in Sarasota, FL.