In order to take over Fox, the Walt Disney Company has to sell a number of television channels. One of the main bidders on those Disney companies is Amazon. That tries to buy 22 sports channels for cable TV, including the American Yankees network.
That’s what CNBC is reporting today. Last June, Disney received permission in the United States to take over parts of 21st Century Fox. In order to avoid a virtual monopoly, one of the requirements was that the company should sell some of its regional sports channels. These are networks with the broadcasting rights for 44 Major League Baseball, National Basketball Association and National Hockey League teams.
Streaming rights
There are several companies that offer for the channels. These include Amazon, but also Apollo Global Management, KKR & Co, The Blackstone Group, Sinclair Broadcast Group and TEGNA. That’s what CNBC says on the basis of anonymous sources within the companies. The total value of the combined regional networks is said to be USD 22.4 billion.
This says CNBC on the basis of Guggenheim Securities, which would have calculated the value of these companies in December 2017. The regional networks include YES Network, the New York Yankees TV house and Brooklyn Nets. The Yankees would like to try to buy back the YES Network, so that they have their broadcasting rights back in their hands.
If Amazon takes over the networks, it will have more streaming rights to sports competitions. By making it available on Amazon Prime Video, it distinguishes that streaming service from competitor Netflix, among others. It does not yet offer any sporting events on its service, although it seems to be considering it.
This news article was automatically translated from Dutch to give Techzine.eu a head start. All news articles after September 1, 2019 are written in native English and NOT translated. All our background stories are written in native English as well. For more information read our launch article.
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