For Amazon, a slate of regional sports networks would also serve as an added perk for subscribers of its Prime program, which costs $119 per year and has more than 100 million members worldwide. Prime membership in the U.S. is slowing down, but access to sports could be enough to draw in new members.
Bidding on two prime collections of local TV assets — Fox’s 22 regional sports networks and Tribune Media’s 42 TV stations and WGN America — will heat up this week in separate auctions that are expected to be concluded by year’s end. The nature of the players lining up for these properties, which include Amazon and private equity heavyweights, speaks volumes about the transformation of media economics, particularly for outlets that have historically operated with a narrow regional focus.
Bidding has begun for the 22 regional sports TV networks Disney acquired from 21st Century Fox. Amazon is bidding for all of the networks, including the YES Network, sources familiar with the matter said. In addition to Amazon, Apollo Global Management, KKR & Co, The Blackstone Group, Sinclair Broadcast Group and Tegna also made first round bids for the full slate of networks, the sources said.
Fox Sports and NBC Sports — two of the companies that were considered the most likely bidders for all or part of the 22 Fox Sports regional sports networks being sold by Disney — did not submit bids last week when they were due, leaving the media industry to wonder who’s in.
Yankees Looking To Buy Back YES
The New York Yankees are in talks to buy back YES Network as Disney and Twenty-First Century Fox look to clear their $71.3 billion merger. It amounts to “a foregone conclusion” the Bronx Bombers will exercise their right of first refusal to buy the 80% of YES they don’t own, according to a source familiar with the talks.
Exclusives
21st Century Fox Executive Chairman Lachlan Murdoch said Thursday it is still an “open question” whether the company will buy back the regional sports networks it sold to entertainment company Walt Disney Co. in July as part of a $71 billion deal.
The Wall Street Journal reports that big media companies, sports teams, private-equity firms and rapper Ice Cube are among those kicking the tires of nearly two dozen regional sports networks that Disney is divesting as part of its $71.3 billion purchase of 21st Century Fox assets. “There’s never been an instance where a large group of these [regional sports networks] have been sold all at once,” said sports-media consultant Lee Berke. Initial bids on the channels are due Nov. 8. Journal subscribers can read the full story here.
The front-runner to buy 22 regional sports TV networks from Disney is the same company that sold them in the first place. “New Fox,” the company that will remain after Rupert Murdoch sells $71.3 billion worth of 21st Century Fox assets to Disney, is the leading contender to buy back the RSNs it “sold” to Disney as part of the larger transaction, according to people familiar with the matter.
Officials with the Detroit-based organization that owns the Detroit Tigers and Red Wings said Thursday they have put no timeline on a potential launch, but called it a natural extension of the business. The idea comes as it considers renewing or extending its deal with Fox Sports Detroit.
Disney’s sales process for Fox’ 22 RSNs took a big step forward last week when the company sent the official bid book to prospective bidders, according to several sources. Said to be more than 150 pages, the book was sent to networks, digital companies, distributors and investment banks who agreed to sign a non-disclosure agreement. Allen & Co. and JP Morgan Chase are handling the sale for Disney, sources said.
As legalized sports gambling rolls out across the nation, the people who make sports television are eager to help with a series of shows explicitly about a pursuit that has long been a major — but usually unstated — reason to watch sports TV in the first place.
Walt Disney Co.’s Bob Iger may not have planned it, but his $71.3 billion deal for 21st Century Fox Inc.’s entertainment assets could be about to reshape sports and regional broadcasting in the U.S.
CEO Bob Iger says that Disney won’t have any trouble finding a buyer for the Fox sports channels. “The RSNs will be sold, and the process of selling them is actually already beginning. Conversations are starting, interest is being expressed. And it’s likely that we’ll negotiate a deal to sell them but the deal will not be fully executed or close until after the overall deal for 21st Century Fox closes.”
WASHINGTON (AP) — The long-running dispute between the Washington Nationals and Baltimore Orioles over television rights fees likely will be reheard by a committee of baseball executives this fall. A New York […]
Comcast Corp. is identifying potential buyers for 21st Century Fox’s regional sports networks in an attempt to ease antitrust concerns about a new bid to acquire most of Fox’s assets, people familiar with the matter say.
After 64 Years, No Orioles Games On OTA TV
There will be no lineup of Orioles baseball games on WJZ or any other over-the-air Baltimore TV station this season, the CBS O&O and Orioles confirmed Tuesday. The end to a Baltimore TV tradition that dates to 1954, when the Orioles’ first home game was played on WMAR, is the result of a decision made by the Mid-Atlantic Sports Network, according to WJZ and the Orioles.
Kirkland, Wash.-based Wave Broadband has filed a claim with the FCC saying cable giant Comcast is unfairly trying to force Wave to provide higher-priced sports TV channels to customers who don’t want them.
FuboTV today announced a multi-year agreement with NESN (New England Sports Network), the exclusive regional home of the Boston Red Sox and the Boston Bruins. FuboTV will launch NESN in the coming days to […]
NBC Sports Group is putting the NBC brand on each of its regional sports networks starting Oct. 2. The move follows the April decision to rename two of its California RSNs to NBC Sports Bay Area and NBC Sports California.
The TV ratings doldrums are hitting local baseball, with 18 of the 29 U.S.-based MLB teams showing ratings declines so far this season. The poor numbers fly in the face of the “Trump Effect” theory, which suggested that the over-heated presidential race last summer led to higher TV ratings for news networks and lower ones for sports. By the end of last season, 15 of the U.S.-based clubs showed local rating increases; 14 were down.
Ruling In MASN Dispute Goes The Nationals’ Way
Regional sports TV networks maintain their popularity with advertisers — and viewers. Heading into the new Major League Baseball season, Kannan Venkateshwar, media analyst of Barclays Research, says advertising sellout levels were at 80% prior to opening day. The cost per thousand viewers was up 6% versus a year ago.
James Dolan’s MSG Networks is sounding out suitors, several sources say. The regional sports network, which has the TV rights for the Knicks, Rangers, Devils, Islanders and other sports teams, collects roughly $5 per subscriber per month — among the highest in the country, according to SNL Kagan. The sales process is believed to be rather young and there is no guarantee a deal will be made.
Comcast this morning returned the YES Network to its lineup in three states, some 16 months after it was pulled due to a fee fight between the companies. YES airs games from the New York Yankees and the NBA’s Brooklyn Nets, Its return comes just three days before the opening of the 2017 Major League Baseball season.
The U.S. Department of Justice filed court papers on Thursday indicating that it has reached a deal with AT&T and DirecTV to resolve an antitrust lawsuit that accused the companies of sharing information during negotiations to carry SportsNet LA, the regional sports network holding the exclusive rights to telecast live Los Angeles Dodgers games in the L.A. area. The proposed deal contemplates future restrictions on what MVPDs are allowed to exchange with each other.
