US regional cable-television channel Yes Network has agreed to extend a rights deal for games involving the New York Yankees Major League Baseball team through to 2042, according to the Bloomberg news agency. The report said that the deal would be a five-year extension, from 2038 to 2042.
The ESPN website said that the agreed rights deal was part of a wider agreement still being finalised for the sale of a 49-per-cent stake in the channel to media conglomerate News Corporation. The website reported the duration of the deal differently. It said that the extension would run for 20 years – rather than five years – following the expiration of the current deal at the end of the 2021 season.
Both reports said that having the rights deal in place had cleared the way for News Corp’s planned investment.
Under the new agreement, the rights fee would increase by about five per cent per year, from the current $85 million (€67 million) annual payment to about $350 million per year by the end of the contract. This would allow News Corp to raise its shareholding in Yes Network to 80 per cent in three years based on a $3.8 billion valuation of the channel, according to Bloomberg.
The ESPN website said that the Yankees owners were finalising details on reducing their stake in the channel from 34 per cent to 25 per cent, with fellow channel owners also reducing their shareholding as part of the sale to News Corp. The Yankees could also be paid an additional $400 million to $500 million by News Corp, separate from the rights fees, the report added.
New York-based Yes also broadcasts games featuring National Basketball Association team the Brooklyn Nets.