N.Y.'s WBIS is examined by Richard Sandomir of the N.Y.
TIMES. WBIS' purchase this season of five Devils, Islanders
and Nets games will cost $80,800, $80,800 and $73,100 each,
respectively. The price for "up to" 15 Devils and Islanders
games next season will stay the same, but the cost of each
Nets game will "jump" to $77,000. For the '98-99 season,
WBIS's per-game fee for up to 15 broadcasts of each team
will be the same -- $83,400; and if WBIS buys the maximum
number of games through '99, it will cost $6.1M. Those
figures were obtained from an SEC document that describes
the agreement for Cablevision to take complete control of
MSG from ITT and "includes a price list for games that
SportsChannel will sell" to WBIS. Sandomir notes a contract
"must still be worked out." If WBIS goes after Mets rights
after their contract with WOR expires after next season, it
would cost $268,300 per game, for up to 50 games, with
"inflationary increases" occurring from '99-2011. By '99,
Sandomir adds that if WBIS "survives, and it buys every game
contemplated in the contract, it would have 175 game
telecasts. That critical mass will undoubtedly be part of
the justification" that Cablevision Chair Charles Dolan will
offer to "critics who protest his plan to rejigger what he
will charge cable subscribers" now that he controls both MSG
and SportsChannel (N.Y. TIMES, 3/21).
OTHER TEAM DEALS: Fox Sports Southwest (FSS) and the
Stars reached a two-year deal for broadcasting Stars games
through the '98-99 season. FSS will televise 40 regular-
season games for each of the next two seasons. Also, FSS
and the Spurs renewed their cable TV rights agreement
through the '99-2000 season. FSS will produce and televise
a minimum of 12 games in '97-98, 20 games in '98-99 and 30
games in '99-2000, plus one preseason game each year.
Financial terms on both deals were not disclosed (FSS).
