MLB commissioner Rob Manfred has suggested the league could participate in the bidding process for the 22 Regional Sports Networks that are being divested as part of the asset takeover deal between Disney and 21st Century Fox.
Disney acquired the RSNs, which show live games from 44 professional sports teams in the US, from Fox but has been forced by regulators to sell them off in order to complete the $71bn (€62bn) asset takeover.
As a lot of MLB content reaches viewers via RSNs, Manfred has signaled that the league is prepared to play more than a watching role over the process.
When questioned in an interview with the JohnWallStreet blog over whether the league cares over who secures control of the RSNs, Manfred said: “We’re very interested in the RSN sale process and have preferences in terms of who the owners are going to be. Candidly, we’re looking at the RSNs ourselves.”
The Awful Announcing website noted that the deadline for the first round of bids has already passed, with only e-commerce giant Amazon, TV station owners Sinclair and Tegna, and three private equity firms making official bids for all 22 RSNs.
However, it added that MLB could yet team up with the likes of Fox, which has been linked to buying back their former RSNs.