Former Madison Square Garden and Marquee Group chief Bob Gutkowski and former Primedia CEO Tom Rogers have met several times in an attempt to broker a long-term deal between the YES Network and Cablevision Systems Corp.
Gutkowski and Rogers were selected by New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg to act as facilitators in negotiations between YES and Cablevision. Each side submitted several names of possible facilitators, and Bloomberg selected Gutkowski from YES' list and Rogers from Cablevision's.
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Gutkowski and Rogers have not been promised any compensation, said someone involved in the discussions. They are expected to meet again in early August.
Their role is not to negotiate an agreement but to lay the groundwork that the mayor's office hopes will lead to an agreement between YES Chief Executive Leo Hindery Jr. and Cablevision CEO James Dolan.
The current distribution agreement between YES and Cablevision expires after the baseball season. If they can't reach a long-term pact, the issue will go to binding arbitration.
Gutkowski and Cablevision had a standoff in 1988 and 1989, when Gutkowski was president of MSG Network and Cablevision refused to carry the service for nine months over a dispute regarding whether to place the channel on a premium tier. That battle was a precursor to Cablevision's conflict with YES and the debate now raging throughout sports television regarding how to package sports channels on cable. Cablevision did eventually relent and carry MSG Network, and then acquired MSG in the summer of 1994. Gutkowski stepped down as the Garden's president weeks later.
Gutkowski, who is vice chairman of the sports marketing firm CSMG, declined to comment.
