MSG Network's deal with Pegula Sports & Entertainment to carry Sabres games for the next decade is for "more than 10 years with a rights fee averaging about" $19M and $20M annually, and it adds up to more than $200M over its length, according to sources cited by Alan Pergament of the BUFFALO NEWS. One reason Bills and Sabres co-Owners Terry and Kim Pegula decided to stay with MSG rather than start an RSN was because PSE "wasn’t assured that it could instantly get satisfactory distribution deals with local cable, satellite and FiOS that would have made it financially worthwhile.” The value of radio rights is a "fraction of TV rights.” And sources said that the new deals that WGR-AM made to carry the Bills and Sabres “includes an increase.” A big winner of this radio deal is the city of Rochester, as before the deal only a portion of the area “was considered Sabres territory.” But now the “entire area is covered.” Meanwhile, one of MSG’s gains is programming that Western New Yorkers "care about.” After MSG lost the Yankees years ago to YES Network, it needs more than just the Knicks and some Giants “programming to interest our area” (BUFFALO NEWS, 6/22).
