Fox has offered about $2.5B "in a bid to grab" MLB TV
rights, including the entire postseason package from 2001-
06, according to Howard Fendrich of the AP, who reported
that the "extra load of divisional playoff games could be
eased by shifting some" to FSN. Pilson Communications
President & former CBS Sports President Neal Pilson said,
"It is a lot of baseball. Take it from someone who knows.
It will force Fox to delay the start of its entertainment
season every fall in order to cover the playoffs and the
World Series, but I am sure they have taken that into
account" (AP, 9/25). In Baltimore, Milton Kent writes that
the "roughly" $417M average annual value of the package
would mark about a 45% jump from MLB's current $290M deal.
The Fox deal would "not impact" MLB's $800M, six-year deal
with ESPN (Baltimore SUN, 9/26). The HOLLYWOOD REPORTER's
Michele Greppi cites sources as saying that the Fox offer
"could be as low as" $400M per year, a "hefty increase" for
MLB, but "nowhere near" the 300% increase that MLB "sought
this year at the beginning of negotiations." Sources feel
that the "odds favor" MLB "outperforming most entertainment
programming" on Fox's primetime schedule (HOLLYWOOD
REPORTER, 9/26). The WALL STREET JOURNAL's Joe Flint writes
that Fox's "bold move is in line" with the net's "strategy
of using big-event sports programming." But Flint adds: "At
the same time the move may be risky because baseball isn't
as strong a ratings grabber as it once was, and it isn't
clear whether Fox could make a profit on such a large deal"
(WALL STREET JOURNAL, 9/26). NEWSDAY's Steve Zipay writes
the proposed deal "seems like a logical, if expensive, one
for Fox." One cable sports exec, on Fox: "They are going to
own sports in October with the NFL and this. They'll
package the two sports and also, they can tell advertisers
that if they want to buy the baseball postseason, they've
got to buy [spots in] the regular season" (NEWSDAY, 9/26).
Fox' plan to "consolidate all national baseball rights, ...
could be moot by 5 p.m. today if NBC chooses to renew its
package" for between $160-175M annually (N.Y. TIMES, 9/26).
DON'T FORGET INTERNET RIGHTS! NEWSWEEK's Alan Schwarz
reports on MLB's Internet effort, where "all revenue becomes
MLB community property," For now, the Internet "pot is
negligible," as all MLB Web sites combined "will bring in a
projected" $50M this season, half the $100M per season the
Yankees "might soon get" for their TV rights. MLB Exec VP
Bob DuPuy said that MLB is "projecting" $1B per year in
Internet revenue "five years from now" (NEWSWEEK, 10/2).
