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FOX/Disney deal

Don CT said:
If MLB takes control how would those contracts of NBA and NHL teams play out.
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Exactly, you have one sports monopoly negotiating with other monopolies over broadcast rights.

Given the way sports fees have risen in the last few years, it opens the door for even higher fees. Not in the interest of consumers.
 
TheBigA said:
Exactly, you have one sports monopoly negotiating with other monopolies over broadcast rights.

Given the way sports fees have risen in the last few years, it opens the door for even higher fees. Not in the interest of consumers.
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I can't see the DOJ allowing MLB to buy the RSN's. Unless the goal is the drive the price up so the networks have more value. MLB doesn't want to be seen having their games on cheap networks.
 
The relationship between the FOX Sports RSNs and baseball is very complicated. MLB might be bidding primarily to unwind some of those ties, and get a say in who owns the networks long-term. Quoting commissioner Rob Manfred:
We are very interested in the RSN sale process and have preferences in terms of who the owners are going to be
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I once read a detailed listing of the ties, but basically the most of the MLB clubs own a stake in their RSNs already -- or vice-versa, the RSNs own stakes in the clubs.
FOX Sports owns a portion of Cincinnati Reds (percentage undisclosed).

The St. Louis Cardinals own 30% of FOX Sports Midwest, the Arizona Diamondbacks own a share of FOX Sports Arizona (percentage undisclosed), The Padres own 20% of FOX Sport San Diego. And the Yankees own 20% of YES and are expected to buy out FOX's majority share regardless of what MLB as a whole does.
 
https://deadline.com/2019/02/netflix-fox-lawsuit-poaching-executives-trial-date-1202547835/

Now we have another issue 20th Century Fox and Netflix are named in lawsuits for a dispute over executive poaching. This may affect the outcome of the Disney Fox talks though.

(UPDATED 6:15 PM PT with Fox statement) Fox and Netflix’s long legal dust-up over the streamer’s snatching of two executives almost three years ago is heating up as the former attempts to get the upcoming trial pushed back and the sparring latter wants to draw Rupert Murdoch’s New Fox and almost every other studio in town into the damning action.

“No longer content — or able — to lock in the stars, Fox seeks to lock into place for years at a time the innumerable marketing, accounting, production, and other business executives who conduct its daily business, using onerous, one-sided contract terms and baseless threats,” declares the Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP represented Reed Hastings run streamer in a filing today (read it here). “But in doing so, Fox has indisputably violated long-standing California public policy that protects employee mobility and prizes free and fair competition, including competition for skilled and talented employees providing business services,” Netflix adds, calling Fox’s claims of unfair competition “fundamentally flawed, exposing the unfair, abusive, and anticompetitive conduct Fox uses to hold its employees hostage.”

“This motion boils down to a single legal issue for the court to decide: Should Fox be permitted to use the UCL (unfair competition claim) to obtain injunctive relief against Netflix broader than any it could legally obtain against its employees themselves?” asks the lightly redacted 19-page motion. “Based on undisputed facts, the answer is an resounding ‘no.’”
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Trial may take place in Fall 2019 in the article.
 
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/02/05/liberty-media-joins-bidding-for-regional-sports-networks-.html

Liberty Media named as a candidate to get the Fox Sports Regional outlets

Liberty Media has joined the bidding for the regional sports networks that Disney is trying to sell to finalize a deal with Twenty-First Century Fox, sources told CNBC.

Liberty and Major League Baseball have submitted bids in the auction. Disney is selling them in order to complete its $71 billion deal to acquire Fox's movie production and television assets, which included the regional sports networks. That deal is expected to close within weeks.

Last week, CNBC reported that MLB's bid would value the networks at no more than 6.5 times earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization.

Sinclair Broadcast and the private equity firm Apollo, which had been looking to bid, are now said to be out of the process, though Sinclair may seek to join another bid.
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Once YES goes back to the Yankees that will set the price for the other RSN's. As YES is the most valuable of the networks it will set the market for the others.
 
New wrinkle: Fox Busniess reports that Arte Moreno, owner of The Anaheim Angeles of Los Angeles and L
KLAA-AM Radio wants to create a West Coast based Sports Network out of as a start, Fox Sports West, and Prime Ticket; Fox Sports San Diego; and Fox Sports Arizona.
 
https://www.foxbusiness.com/media/f...nfusing-as-angels-owner-eyes-several-networks

Candidates for Fox Sports Regional are being named here

The sale of the nearly two dozen of the Fox regional sports networks Opens a New Window. hampered by lowball bids, confusion over the ownership of digital rights, and overly optimistic expectations by bankers Opens a New Window. on the final sales price may now be further delayed by the emergence of a powerful baseball Opens a New Window. owner who has told people he may make a pitch to buy just a handful of the networks, FOX Business has learned.

Billionaire businessman Arturo "Arte" Moreno Opens a New Window. , the owner of the Los Angeles Angels, has indicated that he would like to purchase as many as four of the RSNs, according to people with knowledge of the matter. Moreno's intentions – which were discussed at Major Opens a New Window. League Baseball's Opens a New Window. owners meeting on Friday and have yet to be reported – add a new twist to the auction of the networks.

Disney acquired the RSNs as part of its $71 billion purchase of 21st Century Fox's entertainment assets, but it must sell the properties to meet regulatory requirements since it also owns the giant sports network ESPN. The RSNs broadcast various sports programming through regional cable carriers around the country.
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https://www.bloomberg.com/news/arti...ting-fox-sports-in-brazil-mexico?srnd=premium

Now Disney is in talks to divest Fox Sports in Brazil and Mexico

Walt Disney Co., on the brink of sealing its $71 billion takeover of 21st Century Fox Inc. entertainment assets, will agree to sell the Fox Sports channels in Brazil and Mexico to win regulatory approval there, according to people close to the discussions.

The companies earlier this week accepted the divestment recommendation of Brazil’s antitrust regulator, and at a meeting next week they’ll present an agreement to pursue the sale, said two of the people, who asked not to be identified because the discussions aren’t public. Competitors have already shown interest in the assets, said a third person.

In Mexico, Disney expects the country’s telecommunications regulator to require the sale of Fox Sports and is willing to agree to it, according to one person. In both countries, the final details of the agreements are still under discussion and it’s possible the situation could change, the people said. It’s unclear, for example, whether regulators will require the companies to sell the rights to sports programming, such as soccer games, in addition to the channels themselves.
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https://variety.com/2019/digital/news/disney-att-hulu-talks-acquire-stake-1203151292/

Disney is in talks to get AT&T's share of Hulu

Disney wants to get even more control over Hulu: The company is in active discussions with AT&T to acquire the 10% stake that WarnerMedia owns in the streaming joint venture, Variety has learned.

A knowledgeable source confirmed the talks, which come as Disney heads down the homestretch in gaining regulatory approvals to buy 20th Century Fox. Once that closes, Disney would pick up Fox’s 30% ownership share in Hulu. Meanwhile, AT&T on Tuesday prevailed in a court challenge by the Department of Justice, which was attempting to block its takeover of Time Warner.

Reps for Hulu and AT&T declined to comment. Disney didn’t respond to a request for comment.

Disney currently holds a 30% stake in Hulu, as does Comcast/NBCUniversal — which is not prepared to exit the JV at this point. “Disney would like to buy us out,” NBCU CEO Steve Burke told Variety last month. “I don’t think anything’s going to happen in the near term.”
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Yes this is Disney's ploy to get majority control of Hulu.
 
The new YES construct will allow the Yankees to have programming with a greater footprint on both broadcasting (Sinclair) and over-the-top (Amazon), especially since MLB is giving control of direct-to-consumer programming back to its 30 teams, rather than the league controlling those rights. It will also pave the way for YES to be a national OTT network (think back to the late 1990s when Rupert Murdoch used a string of RSNs to compete as a de facto national network with Disney’s ESPN).
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https://www.forbes.com/sites/mikeoz...ck-yes-network-for-3-47-billion/#508a269f483c
 
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