Attorneys representing the bankrupt remains of CSN Houston "filed suit Thursday morning" against Comcast and several corporate officers, "potentially seeking hundreds of millions of dollars to recoup the Astros’ and Rockets’ lost investment" in the failed RSN, according to David Barron of the HOUSTON CHRONICLE. The lawsuit was filed by Houston attorney Mark Lanier in U.S. Bankruptcy Court on "behalf of a trustee overseeing the settlement of claims" associated with the RSN, the parent company of the Astros-Rockets-Comcast partnership that launched in '12 and was dissolved in '14. While "no dollar amounts are listed in the suit, damage claims could easily run into nine figures." The lawsuit has "no impact on Root Sports Southwest, the replacement network to CSN Houston." However, it does "represent a long-expected courtroom showdown between one-time partners -- Comcast on one side, the Astros and Rockets on the other -- who became heated foes." The lawsuit "seeks actual damages, punitive damages and attorneys’ fees associated with the network’s collapse from defendants, including Comcast." The Astros and Rockets sold 22.5% of the company to Comcast in '10, and Comcast issued a $100M "secured loan for operating expenses" when the net launched in the fall of '12. But with Comcast "unable to arrange carriage agreements with DirecTV, Dish Network, AT&T U-verse and others, and with the Astros threatening to bolt because of unpaid rights fees, several Comcast subsidiaries filed to put the network into involuntary bankruptcy" in September '13. In addition to "lost equity in the failed network, the Astros and Rockets also gave up the right during the bankruptcy reorganization and sale to DirecTV and AT&T to recoup" about $131M in "unpaid rights fees" from CSN Houston during '13 and '14. That loss also "could be a subject for potential damage recovery in the lawsuit" (CHRON.com, 6/11).
