The Yankees' one-year TV rights deal with IMG (see THE
DAILY, 11/9) "has re-ignited the battle" between the team
and Cablevision, "practically assuring the cabler's MSG
Network will run into court in an attempt to gain the right
to retain long-term rights to the very profitable
pinstripers' games," according to Richard Wilner of the N.Y.
POST, who values the deal at $55M, up from the widely-
reported $52M yesterday. Wilner: "Faced with little hope of
out-pricing [Cablevision Chair Charles] Dolan and forced to
place any offer before the MSG Network, [Yankees Owner
George] Steinbrenner and his lawyers came up with a rarely
used tactic: the one-year rights offer." Cablevision has a
seven-day window to exercise a first right of refusal option
on their recently-expired contract with the Yankees, and
Wilner writes that, under the proposal, Dolan "can accept
the offer and enjoy one more profitable year of Yankee
telecasts, but then, in all probability, lose the rights
forever. A second, equally distasteful, path for Dolan
would be to not match the IMG offer." If successful, the
one-year rights offer from Steinbrenner "would be a
masterstroke and give The Boss a huge -- and profitable --
victory over Dolan," but "no one expects Dolan to let the
offer pass without a fight." One "possible legal area ripe
for a tussle" is the length of the IMG offer because rights
packages for only one year are "rare" (N.Y. POST, 11/10).
The HOLLYWOOD REPORTER's Michele Greppi writes that by
putting together a one-year proposal to IMG without a right
of first refusal clause, the Yankees "potentially appeal to
MSG's need for the 100 or so Yankees games next season while
positioning the team to freely negotiate a multiyear"
contract next year. Sources close to the situation said
yesterday that MSG "is most likely to take the Yankees to
court again." Another industry source said that MSG "would
have a good chance at being able to convince a judge again
that the Yankees' latest move is simply another attempt to
frustrate MSG's right to match" (HOLLYWOOD REPORTER, 11/10).
