After "intense negotiations" yesterday, Cablevision's
MSG Network "agreed to match" a one-year, $52M TV rights fee
offer presented to the Yankees by IMG's TWI (see THE DAILY,
11/9), according to Bob Raissman of the N.Y. DAILY NEWS.
But MSG and the team also "agreed to continue discussions on
a long-term deal. If those negotiations do not result in a
multiyear contract, MSG brass has reserved the right to go
back to court and have a judge rule on the key 'right of
last refusal' clause" for the right to match any offer made
to the team following the 2001 season (N.Y. DAILY NEWS,
11/17). The AP's Ronald Blum reported that MSG also filed
suit against the Yankees yesterday in order to reserve the
refusal right. A baseball official said that NY State
Supreme Court Justice Barry Cozier, who issued an injunction
on July 31 that blocked the Yankees' first deal with IMG,
will also hear the current suit. The Yankees and MSG have
asked Cozier "to hear the case on an expedited basis, and a
hearing is likely to take place in January" (AP, 11/16). In
N.Y., Richard Sandomir reports that Cozier will "hold a
trial early next year to determine if the deal will be
amended" (N.Y. TIMES, 11/17). In NJ, Matthew Futterman
writes that the deal "postpones for at least 15 months" the
team's plans to launch an RSN, but mean that it will take in
"more cash than any other team to cover a payroll that is
expected to remain well over" $100M (STAR-LEDGER, 11/17).
