US broadcaster Fox Sports could pay at least $6 billion (€4.7 billion) for a 25-year extension to its television rights for Major League Baseball franchise the Los Angeles Dodgers, according to the Los Angeles Times.
The newspaper said negotiations on the new deal are still ongoing. Under the current contract, Fox pays the Dodgers $350 million over 12 years, an average of $29 million per year. The 2013 season is the final one of the current deal. A $6 billion, 25-year deal would be worth $240 million per year.
The current deal sets out a negotiating window in which, if no deal is agreed by this Friday, November 30, the Dodgers then have until December 7 to propose to Fox the terms of a new deal, which Fox has a 30-day window to accept or reject. In the absence of a deal after this, the Dodgers would be free to open talks with other Southern California regional cable-television broadcasters, such as Time Warner Cable SportsNet, or launch its own cable channel.
Commenting on the report, Fox Sports said: “The Dodgers and Fox have been long-time partners and we’re in discussions now to extend that relationship well into the future. We’re working hard to reach an agreement that achieves the goals of Dodgers ownership and also makes sense for our business.”