As Star Wars: The Force Awakens approaches $900 million at the domestic box office, Disney is looking to add significantly to its haul with the sale of free-TV rights to a nine-movie Star Wars package.
Fox Sports and the Los Angeles Dodgers began preliminary talks in May on a multi-billion dollar cable TV deal, a person familiar with the talks said, the latest in a string of rich cable TV contracts for teams in the largest U.S. TV markets.
The record-setting $2.15 billion sale of the Los Angeles Dodgers to a group led by former basketball star Earvin “Magic” Johnson and financier Mark Walter dropped the jaws of even the most bullish sports-industry veterans. But the Dodgers’ new owners have a rich opportunity to either launch a regional sports network or to hold an auction for rights to televise games.
The NFL is negotiating with TV networks about a new early-season eight-game package that would start as soon as next season, according to several sources. The potential Thursday night package could be worth as much as $700 million per year, the sources said. Such a windfall, providing a sudden increase in overall league revenue, could help soften the blow to the players from the emerging labor deal in which they are likely to receive a smaller percentage of revenue than they previously have received.
