Fox's "pre-emptive, but risky, strike to acquire the
national over-the-air rights to televise" MLB from 2001-06
"worked as fellow incumbents" NBC and ESPN declined to bid
by yesterday's deadline, according to Steve Zipay of
NEWSDAY, who writes that MLB officials will announce today
that Fox has "agreed to pay about" $2.5B for the rights to
the World Series and all other postseason games. Fox will
pay an average of about $400M annually starting next season.
However, some sports business execs said that "unless some
MLB Internet rights were included in the deal, it was too
expensive." One exec said: "When NBC shared the package, it
wouldn't counterprogram against Fox because it had to sell
the same sport. Now, Fox will be pounded by the other three
networks" (NEWSDAY, 9/27). The HOLLYWOOD REPORTER's Michele
Greppi writes that no single network "has owned so complete
a baseball package" since CBS lost millions in a $1.1B deal
from '90-93 (HOLLYWOOD REPORTER, 9/27). USA TODAY's Rudy
Martzke values Fox' annual fee at $417M and notes that it
represents a 44% increase from the annual $290M total from
Fox and NBC. ESPN retains MLB's only other national TV
contract as part of its $810M, six-year deal for regular
season rights through 2005 (USA TODAY, 9/27). In N.Y.,
Richard Sandomir writes that ESPN "was being asked to more
than double" its fee of about $6M per game for about six
division series playoff broadcasts (N.Y. TIMES, 9/27).
RISKY BUSINESS: The WALL STREET JOURNAL's Joe Flint
writes that Fox' move "to grab all of the postseason isn't
without risks." Pilson Communications President Neal
Pilson: "When you have the entire package, your risks grow
if bad things happen" (WALL STREET JOURNAL, 9/27). In
Boston, Howard Manly: "It remains to be seen whether Fox can
turn a profit under terms of the deal. ... But as the No. 4
network, Fox could not afford to lose baseball" (BOSTON
GLOBE, 9/27). Univ. of OR Warsaw Sports Marketing Center
Dir Rick Burton: "On the surface, it looks like they've
overpaid dearly. They're doing this at a time when
viability of sports on network television seems kind of
shaky" (BLOOMBERG NEWS, 9/27). DAILY VARIETY's John Dempsey
writes that the deal comes while MLB "did not negotiate from
a position of strength. Its Nielsen ratings consistently
fall well below the average" of NFL, NBA and NCAA men's
basketball tournament games (DAILY VARIETY, 9/27).
