MLS Galaxy “has reached a broadcast agreement to jump from Fox Sports West to Time Warner Cable's fledgling regional sports channels ... beginning in 2012,” according to Baxter & Flint of the L.A. TIMES. A source said that the 10-year deal is "valued at $55 million for an undetermined number of games” on two channels -- one in English, the other in Spanish. The deal "dwarfs the three-year $30-million national deal between Major League Soccer and NBC and will provide a welcome financial boost for the Galaxy.” AEG President & CEO Tim Leiweke, whose company owns the Galaxy, said, “It's a major deal for our team and I'm telling you it never happens without David Beckham.” Baxter & Flint report although the team “has been the league's marquee franchise since signing Beckham before the 2007 season, it has not been a ratings winner for FSW, never drawing more than 16,000 homes, a .28 rating.” In the last few years, “ratings have [been] dropping as low as .11%.” Fox has been paying "less than $500,000 a season for the Galaxy's broadcast rights," which included 19 games this year. The Galaxy “is the second pro team to jump to Time Warner Cable, following the Lakers, who in February signed a 20-year broadcast deal valued at $3 billion” (L.A. TIMES, 11/16). In L.A., Tom Hoffarth reports Fox “declined to match the TWC offer only because of the enormous prices that TWC decided to pay -- about $289,000 per game.” A source said that it would be “impossible for TWC to recoup these rights fees with only advertiser dollars, which means it more than likely will pass on the costs to those cable viewers who eventually have the TWC channels on their systems” (L.A. DAILY NEWS, 11/16).
