US broadcaster Time Warner Cable is set to acquire regional broadcast rights in the US for Los Angeles Dodgers Major League Baseball games in a deal that will run for 20 years, from 2014 to 2033.
The Los Angeles Times newspaper said that the cable-television operator would pay a total of about $7 billion (€5.22 billion) for the rights over 20 years, or $350 million per year.
The Associated Press news agency said that the deal would be finalised within days and added that Time Warner Cable would exploit the rights on a new channel, to be launched by the Dodgers. The Dodgers will retain ownership of the channel, but will allow Time Warner Cable to operate the channel, produce its content and distribute its programming, the report added.
The Fox Sports division of US network Fox has the regional rights for the Dodgers in a deal that will expire at the end of the 2013 season. The newspaper said that Fox Sports offered more than $6 billion over 25 years, from 2014 to 2038, to keep the Dodgers on its Prime Ticket regional sports network.
Fox Sports’ exclusive negotiating window for the next cycle of rights expired in November.