USA Today further spells out how Mariners, handful of clubs next in line for huge cash windfall

We've been on this subject for a while, but a USA Today story published online last night by reporter Bob Nightengale provides an all-encompassing look at how the Mariners and a select handful of teams are about to win a local television lottery in just a couple of years. The Mariners just started a 10-year, $450-million deal with ROOT Sports last season that was negotiated way back in 2007. But there is a 2015 opt-out clause in the deal and the timing could not be better for the Mariners, given how the market for regional sports network (RSN) contracts is shooting through the roof. In his piece, Nightengale quotes sources saying the San Diego Padres stand to earn $75 million per year on a soon-to-be negotiated RSN deal for themselves. The Padres play in baseball's 26th biggest market, the Mariners in its 12th largest. You do the math. And the Mariners, when you really look at where their fan base extends to, could actually be sitting on a market much bigger than just the Se...