Orange County Superior Court Judge Ronald Kline said he
will decide today whether the remaining Mighty Ducks games
will be seen on Fox Sports West or Fox Sports West 2,
according to Barbara Kingsley of the ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER.
Kline: "This isn't about whether I want to see hockey games
for a cheaper price. ... It's about some fairly complicated
legal issues." Kline will decide whether the Ducks
experienced a "frustration of purpose" when Fox moved the
Ducks games to the new Fox Sports West 2, which isn't widely
carried by cable operators in the area. Disney, owner of
the Ducks, said the move "violates the spirit of the
agreement" signed in '93, which had games going to an
audience of 4.2 million. Kline asked Fox if Disney lawyers
could make the case that "you are essentially televising
this is Siberia." Fox lawyer Robert Badal argued Fox could
have stated "frustration of purpose" when it signed the
Ducks, since the team has yet to make the playoffs." Badal:
"We thought we'd have a successful entity and we didn't get
it. Why couldn't we make that argument and renegotiate this
contract?" (ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER, 2/26).
