A 31-year-old rule nicknamed the “anti-chump clause” makes the Ravens a significant, if silent, party to the Orioles’ ongoing lease negotiations by mandating that the state can’t treat one team better than the other.
Under the parity clause, the state is like a parent legally bound to love each of its children the same.
“It guarantees that we would be treated the same in future dealings, that if they’re going to do something special for the football team, they do something equally special for the baseball team,” said Larry Lucchino, who helped draft the clause in 1992 as Orioles president and CEO.
At the time, Maryland was hotly pursuing an NFL club after the Colts abruptly left for Indianapolis in 1984. Lucchino called the clause “anti-chump” because it ensured the Orioles wouldn’t get left behind when a football team arrived and began negotiating a lease with the Maryland Stadium Authority. The Ravens began play in 1996.
This year, the situation is flipped. It’s the Ravens who are vigilant bystanders while the Orioles negotiate a lease to replace an extension expiring Dec. 31.
The Ravens aren’t at the negotiating table with the state and the Orioles.
But “as part of the general discussions, we’re making sure that the Ravens are not only kept apprised, but that their input is received as necessary,” said an official in the administration of Democratic Gov. Wes Moore. The person, who is close to the negotiations, requested anonymity because the discussions are ongoing.
The Ravens signed a new, 15-year lease in January. As if reinforcing that the siblings must play nicely, the Ravens’ new agreement includes a reminder that “the Orioles Agreement requires the Orioles to cooperate with the Team in order to permit harmonious use of the Camden Yards Sports Complex.”
The parity clause, which made its initial appearance in the Orioles’ 1992 lease, requires the state to provide the teams “fairly comparable” lease terms.
That has proved tricky. The clubs have clashed in the past, with the Orioles claiming unfair treatment over stadium naming rights and many other issues. Notably, the teams were unable to strike a compromise in 2013 when the NFL hoped the Ravens would open the season at M&T Bank Stadium on a night when the Orioles had a home game scheduled in their nearby stadium.
In 2001 — four years after the Ravens signed their first comprehensive lease — the Orioles identified 11 areas of its lease that it said were deficient relative to the Ravens’ lease, from the number of sky boxes to the quality of the sound system and differences in the amount the teams contributed to the construction of the publicly financed facilities.
Although the American Arbitration Association rejected many of the claims, it agreed with a big one: The Orioles deserved the right, contained in the Ravens lease, to sell the stadium’s name. PSINet bought the rights from the Ravens in a sponsorship deal valued at $105 million. Even if the Orioles never sell the name — they have yet to do so — adding the right increased the franchise’s value.
The Ravens agreed in April to extend their current naming rights deal — signed with M&T Bank in 2003 — until 2037.
The teams’ 2013 scheduling conflict was noteworthy because the Ravens had won the Super Bowl the previous season. The NFL wanted the club to follow league tradition by hosting the opening game the next season. With the Orioles already scheduled to play at home, there was the potential for traffic problems — even if the games’ start times were staggered — because the stadiums are so close.
The Orioles told The Baltimore Sun at the time that they doubted they could get the required approval from the players’ association and the league to change the game time.
Ravens owner Steve
With that, the teams said four days later that a The Ravens became the first reigning Super Bowl champion to open on the road since 2003, losing to the Denver Broncos.
Currently, the teams are looking at a possible conflict on Oct. 7. If the Orioles find themselves in the opening game of the American League Division Series, there could be a clash with a Billy Joel/Stevie Nicks concert scheduled for the same day at the Ravens’ stadium. The teams have been in communication about the date and are hopeful of heading off any potential problems, according to two officials with direct knowledge of the matter who declined to be named because the talks are private.
Top Ravens and Orioles officials are outwardly cordial. But three officials with knowledge of the relationship described it as distant. They asked to remain anonymous because of the sensitive nature of the two neighbors’ dealings.
“I would say that it was very limited,” said Thomas Kelso, who negotiated extensively with both clubs as stadium authority chairman from 2015 until March.
On Jan. 31, Kelso convened a dinner at the Black Olive restaurant in Fells Point with Orioles Chairman and CEO John Angelos and Sashi Brown, the Ravens president. Kelso said in an interview that he organized the meeting “to try to get John and Sashi talking to one another.” Kelso said Angelos arrived 25 minutes late.
In the last few years of his chairmanship, Kelso said: “I saw a willingness of the Ravens to work with the Orioles. I saw very little willingness of the Orioles to work with the Ravens.”
Angelos and Brown declined interview requests.
Angelos has expressed confidence that a lease deal will get done on time, and Moore said last month that negotiations can produce not only a new lease,
Ultimately, the Ravens have their lease done and are preparing for renovations to M&T Bank Stadium. Meanwhile, Angelos has proposed a broad economic development deal without yet signing an agreement to play at Camden Yards past this fall, and the current lease has less than four months to go.
As to any concern about the Orioles having the last word and making chumps out of the football team, Kelso said that’s what the parity clause is for — and why the Ravens don’t need to talk publicly about the Orioles lease negotiations.
“At this point, the Ravens would not need to do anything until an actual agreement with the Orioles is signed,” Kelso said. “Under the parity clause, if the Orioles were to receive more favorable terms than the Ravens then, at the Ravens’ request, they would be entitled to receive equal terms.”
A number of Ravens players have visited this year to enthusiastically support the team, which has been posting one of the best regular season records in club history.
Ravens kicker Justin Tucker attended an early game, and defensive back Marlon Humphrey tweeted, “Let’s go freaking O’s…!” after he and other Ravens swapped jerseys with Grayson Rodriguez, Adley Rutschman and other Orioles during an informal meeting in May at Oriole Park. Last month, former Ravens star Ed Reed threw out a ceremonial first pitch.
The Orioles’ and Ravens’ stadiums sit on an 85-acre tract with parking lots between them.
As part of seeking agreement on a long-term lease this year, Angelos has long said that attracting private investment would foster a vibrant, “live-work-play” area beneficial to downtown Baltimore, as well as the teams.
“The goal of our new stadium arrangement will be to permanently cement the team in Baltimore and re-imagine downtown Baltimore,” Angelos wrote in a Jan. 31 letter to Moore obtained by The Sun.
vision.
Developing the parcels presents concerns because Lots B and C are prime parking for Ravens’ fans, and the NFL team’s lease guarantees parking spaces. One of the sources familiar with the negotiations said Angelos’ idea came up earlier in but is no longer on the table.
Angelos also has proposed the development of Lot A, which is adjacent to Oriole Park but also used for Ravens parking. The Ravens, in an example of the give-and-take that must contractually occur between the teams and the state, agreed in their lease to permit building “over, on, or under” Lot A, as long as any parking spaces lost are relocated.
Under the Ravens’ lease, no other development affecting the NFL team’s games is permitted to proceed until the stadium authority can “develop a master plan for the Camden Yards Sports Complex.”
No such plan currently exists.
Baltimore Sun reporter Sam Janesch contributed to this article.
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