US network CBS and MSG Network, the pay-television channel owned by New York sports venue Madison Square Garden, are separately considering investing in groups that want to acquire the Los Angeles Dodgers Major League Baseball franchise, according to the Los Angeles Times.
The objective for each broadcaster would be to secure the franchise’s local broadcast rights by financing a takeover, and then to launch a regional sports network that would be dedicated to the Dodgers.
Dodgers’ executives believe the Fox network’s current local rights deal for the franchise, which expires at the end of the 2013 season, undervalues the rights.
Fox wants to retain the rights, while the Time Warner Cable pay-television operator is also interested in acquiring them.
Blackstone, the investment bank overseeing the sale of the Dodgers, has reportedly encouraged bidding groups to form partnerships with media companies and private equity funds interested in launching regional sports networks. Blackstone believes such partnerships could help to drive up the prices of the bids for the franchise.
The sale of the team is scheduled to be completed by April 30.
MSG Network operates two regional sports networks in New York. CBS owns two television channels in Los Angeles.