MLB jumps into battle for Regional Sports Networks

MLB commissioner Rob Manfred says the game has ‘interest’ in the sale of 22 Regional Sports Networks

MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred suggested Wednesday that Major League Baseball might inject itself into a developing bidding war for some or all of the 22 Regional Sports Networks that presently hold the rights to telecast games.

The Fox Sports Regional Networks are in the process of being sold as part of the Disney Company’s previously announced agreement to purchase 21st Century Fox, which owns them. However, the Department of Justice has told Disney that its purchase of 21st Century Fox will not be approved unless Disney first sells off the Regional Sports Networks.

Yahoo Finance quoted Manfred as saying that although MLB has no present ownership interest in the RSNs, its contractual relationships with them create what it views as an interest in any new ownership.

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“We are very interested in the RSN sale process and have preferences in terms of who the owners are going to be,” Yahoo quoted Manfred as saying. He added that “candidly, we’re looking at the RSNs ourselves.”

It was not immediately clear from the portion of Manfred’s statement released by Yahoo whether he meant that the various MLB teams might compete to purchase individual networks, or whether he meant that MLB itself would seek to purchase most or all of the networks collectively and in doing so consolidate its hold on the televised presentation of games. If the latter, that step would have major ramifications for revenue streams going to the affected teams.

There is no timetable for completion of the sale. It has been reported that some initial bids have been received, although multiple rounds of bidding could occur.

Business and financial experts have identified several potential suitors for the RSNs, among them Amazon, Apollo Global Management, Sinclair Media, Sling, DirectvNow, Discovery and Comcast. Some of those already have a sports footprint.

Discussing the prospect of MLB entering the bidding for the RSNs, Yahoo Finance’s Dan Roberts said the most interesting aspect is that “every potential rumored buyer would do something different” with the networks.

Lee Berke, CEO of LHB Sports, predicted “a competitive marketplace,” and he held out the possibility that Disney might break up the set, selling the various networks off individually rather than as a unit. He said that “potentially the teams could be involved.”

Of the 22, by far the best known is the YES Network, a partnership between Fox and the Yankees that telecasts Yankee games. Fox owns 80 percent of the asset. There has been speculation that the Yankees may attempt to purchase the entire YES network.