Yankees & Red Sox to merge TV stations?

[Bearcat729]

http://money.cnn.com/2004/08/03/news...ex.htm?cnn=yes





Yanks, Red Sox in TV merger?

Report says baseball's fiercest rivals are in talks to combine team-owned regional sports networks.
August 3, 2004: 7:25 AM EDT



NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - The New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox, fierce rivals on the field, could soon be partners in their off-field broadcasting business, according to a published report.

The New York Post reports that the management of the two teams are in discussions about merging their two regional sports cable networks -- Yankees Entertainment & Sports Network (YES), and the New England Sports Network (NESN). The newspaper reports that while discussions between the sides are at an early stage, it quotes a source as saying, "there's a desire of both ownerships to do it. It would make for a powerhouse regional network."

The two networks are among the country's most successful regional sports networks and part of the reason the Yankees and Red Sox are the leading revenue teams in Major League Baseball.

YES also broadcasts games of the New Jersey Nets basketball team, which had common ownership with the Yankees until earlier this year, and has a stake in YES. NESN, meanwhile, also broadcasts games of the Boston Bruins hockey team, which has a minority stake in NESN.

Investment firm Goldman Sachs (GS: Research, Estimates) also owns a 40 percent stake in YES. The paper said Goldman is eager to pursue a deal because it is interested in cashing out its investment in the network, which is valued at more than $300 million.


The paper said that a combination would give the new merged network better clout in ad sales and negotiations on a per-subscriber fees paid by cable operators.

The paper said that it is possible that the New York Mets may also enter a joint venture. The Mets recently paid $54 million to buy back its rights to broadcast its 2006 games from MSG Networks, a unit of Cablevision System Corp. (CVC: Research, Estimates) that now shows the team's games.

It is reportedly looking at starting its own regional cable sports network with cable operator Time Warner Cable, a major cable operator in New York City. Time Warner Cable is a unit of media conglomerate Time Warner Inc., as is CNN/Money.

Time Warner Cable announced Sunday it was dropping MSG and Fox Sports New York, both units of Cablevision, after it failed to reach agreement on the fee it would pay to carry the networks. MSG and FSNY show the bulk of Mets games.

[Ksyrup]

The deal will probably fall through when they can't agree on the network's name.

[rkmsuf]

How would that work?

They'd have to have different feeds for Boston and NY markets.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by rkmsuf

How would that work?

They'd have to have different feeds for Boston and NY markets.

Not all that difficult to accomplish AFAIK -- Fox Sports South, for example, does that for split feeds of Thrashers & Lightning.

[rkmsuf]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

Not all that difficult to accomplish AFAIK -- Fox Sports South, for example, does that for split feeds of Thrashers & Lightning.

See that, problem solved.

[Franklinnoble]

I can't believe the Red Sox are even considering this.

[rkmsuf]

One of the goals of the new ownership was to pump NESN up and increase revenue from that stream as I believe their deal includes either all or a significant piece of NESN.

[Ksyrup]

This is all part of the Red Sox plan to become The Despised Yankees South. If you can't beat 'em, partner with 'em so you, too, can have a $200 million payroll.

[rkmsuf]

Originally Posted by Ksyrup

This is all part of the Red Sox plan to become The Despised Yankees South. If you can't beat 'em, partner with 'em so you, too, can have a $200 million payroll.

Could be but I'm guessing payroll wise they may be going the other way. How long do they sit and watch 50 million dollar payrolls do just as well as their 130.

Nomar's departure is step one and 11 million gone. Between Pedro, Varitek, Lowe, Reese, and Mirabella there's lot's of payroll that can not be resigned.

[Franklinnoble]

Bah... John Henry needs to come to his senses... I think his next conversation with Steinbrenner needs to go something like this:

No . . . no . . . no . . . no, now wait a minute, here! I don't have to talk to anybody! I know right now, and the answer is no! NO! Doggone it!
You sit around here and you spin your little webs and you think the whole world revolves around you and your money. Well, it doesn't, Mr. Steinbrenner! In the . . . in the whole vast configuration of things, I'd say you were nothing but a scurvy little spider.

[rkmsuf]

Originally Posted by Franklinnoble

Bah... John Henry needs to come to his senses... I think his next conversation with Steinbrenner needs to go something like this:

Unbenounced to many, Henry is quite a bit like George. He may not do with with the same flair but he definately is calling most of the shots in Boston.