Fox Sports execs have "had preliminary discussions with suitors" for the Clippers regarding the team's TV contract, according to a source cited by Joe Flint of the L.A. TIMES. FS Prime Ticket is the current rights holder for Clippers games, and sources said that it "pays about $25 million per season." That "pales in comparison to what the Lakers get from Time Warner Cable for their rights," which is $3B over 20 years, or an average of $150M a season. The Celtics "recently signed a new TV deal with Comcast for an average" of $65M a year, which "may be a figure closer to what the Clippers could hope to achieve." What the new Clippers owner will "want to avoid is the mess that the Dodgers are in with their new TV deal." Keeping the Clippers "is important to Prime Ticket," as the channel "already lost the Dodgers, and its sister service Fox Sports West lost the Lakers" to TWC. If the Clippers "went away too, distributors might pressure Fox to merge Prime Ticket with Fox Sports West" (L.A. TIMES, 5/30). In California, Michael Lev notes prospective Clippers Owner Steve Ballmer "has to be expecting a major windfall from media rights that also will be up for sale in the near future." But the question is "just how big that windfall will be." Lev: "No matter the standings in recent seasons, the Clippers aren’t the Lakers." The Clippers "don’t have the heritage, the history or the brand name." They "aren’t popular enough to have their own network." The Clippers have "two years remaining on their deal with Fox." Sources said that it "wouldn’t be unreasonable" to expect the reported $25M per season to "double when the Clippers get their new TV deal" after the '15-16 season (ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER, 5/30).
