US Major League Baseball team the Cleveland Indians is set to sell its regional cable-television channel SportsTime Ohio to Fox Sports Ohio, a regional division of Fox Sports, which is owned by US network Fox.
The Cleveland Plain Dealer newspaper said that the deal could be worth between $200 million (€153.8 million) and $250 million, with the Indians’ broadcast rights expected to increase in value from $30 million per year to $40 million per year.
According to the league’s official website, MLB.com, the deal could be completed by the end of December.
Fox held the broadcast rights to Indians games prior to 2006, when SportsTime Ohio was created by the club’s owners, the Dolan family.
Fox Sports Ohio already has rights for Cincinnati Reds MLB games, Cleveland Cavaliers NBA basketball games, Columbus Blue Jackets NHL ice hockey games, Columbus Crew Major League Soccer matches and regional university athletics.