Southwest Sports Group Chair Tom Hicks has agreed to
sell his MLB Rangers' and Stars' over-the-air TV rights to
Fox Sports Net (FSN), according to Barry Horn of the DALLAS
MORNING NEWS, who cites team and network sources as valuing
the ten-year deal at $250M. FSN had already signed a 15-
year, $300M deal six months ago for the teams' cable rights,
and yesterday's over-the-air agreement "contains language
that would allow for another five years." Hicks will now
receive a total of $550M from FSN, which Horn notes "dwarfs
the combined" $334M he paid for both teams. Southwest
Sports Group President & COO Mike Cramer said that he
believes the teams' TV revenue "would now be in the upper
echelon" of MLB and NHL franchises, and that "only the New
York and Chicago baseball teams have more lucrative TV
deals." Cramer said that while Southwest explored the idea
of forming its own RSN, "All we have done is found someone
who told us, 'Don't go to the trouble' of starting a
network. Fox Sports Net simply put all the assets on the
table." The Rangers' previous TV deal with LIN TV was a
five-year contract valued at $40M. The Stars "had never
before sold their over-the-air rights" and have instead been
using free air time from local stations in return for a
split in commercial revenues (DALLAS MORNING NEWS, 3/23).
MLB INTERNET REGULATIONS: In Ft. Worth, Sean Wood
writes that the deal "goes into effect immediately" for the
Rangers' 2000 season, while the Stars' broadcasts "will
start next season." Wood adds that the deal "took nearly
four months to hammer out," as it was "delayed" by MLB's
"attempts to develop rules for broadcasting over the
internet." Cramer: "We're not done yet in terms of dealing
with [MLB]. But we're starting down the path, waiting for
MLB's final set of rules" (FT. WORTH STAR-TELEGRAM, 3/23).
