Sinclair Acquires Disney's 21 Former Fox Sports Networks



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Mb (0) – sm Mt (0.8em) – sm "type =" text "content =" Almost a year after the US Department of Justice & nbsp;ordered Disney to sell 22 Fox regional sports networks& nbsp; as part of its contract with Fox, Disney managed to unload the full package, and the winner is the Sinclair Broadcasting Group. "data-reactid =" 15 "> Nearly a year after the US Department of Justice ordered Disney to sell 22 Fox regional sports networks are part of his contract with Fox, Disney managed to unload the Complete package and the winner is Sinclair Broadcasting Group.

<p class = "canvas-atom-canvas-text Mb (1.0em) Mb (0) – sm Mt (0.8em) – sm" type = "text" content = "According to the & nbsp;the Wall Street newspaperDisney and Sinclair have reached an agreement for all 21 channels, priced at $ 10 billion. It's a lot cheaper than the range of $ 15 billion to $ 25 billion that most analysts predicted for Disney; Guggenheim Partners valued the portfolio at $ 25 billion. "Data-reactid =" 16 "> According to the Wall Street Journal, Disney and Sinclair have reached an agreement for 21 channels, priced at $ 10 billion.This is much cheaper than the range of 15 to 25 Billions of dollars that most analysts had predicted for Disney, Guggenheim Partners valued the portfolio at $ 25 billion.

This agreement, when it will be official, will be the third sporting action Sinclair has taken in a short period of time.

In March, Sinclair joined Blackstone and Amazon to support the New York Yankees takeover of 80% of the 80% of YES Network sold to Fox in 2014. YES Network was the 22nd channel of Fox's former portfolio and was considered the jewel of the crown.

And last February, Sinclair partnered with the Chicago Cubs to create a new RSN in Chicago, dubbed the Marquee Sports Network, which will broadcast all Cubs games in the region starting in 2020.

Sinclair was already the largest owner of local television channels in the country, but had not previously had a strong footprint in sports broadcasting, aside from owning the Tennis Channel. (He is also a partner of the stadium sports streaming platform.) He will now operate 23 different regional sports networks.

<p class = "web-atom canvas-text Mb (1.0em) Mb (0) – sm Mt (0.8em) – sm" type = "text" content = "Even though large (more than 200) channels, Sinclair was not a known name until last year, when the conservative appearance of the company became evident after the sports blog & nbsp;Deadspin& nbsp; made a very nice video of dozens of local news anchors at Sinclair-owned stations, reading pre-written remarks on "fake news" that echoed President Trump's public statements about the media. Trump publicly supported Sinclair's attempt to merge with Tribune Media for $ 3.9 billion. When the FCC did not approve the deal, he called it "sad and unfair". "Data-reactid =" 21 "> Even as big as it is (over 200 channels), Sinclair was not a known name until last year, when the company's conservative appearance became visible after sports blog Deadspin made a great video of dozens of local news presenters at Sinclair-owned stations, reading pre-written remarks Trump publicly supported Sinclair's attempt to merge with Tribune Media, a worth $ 3.9 billion, and when the FCC did not approve the deal, Trump called it "sad and unfair".

NEW YORK, NEW YORK – MAY 19: Alex Rodriguez, former star of the New York Yankees, alongside the Fox Sports team, as a Major League Baseball analyst during the MLB match Los Angeles Angeles Vs New York Mets opponent at Citi Field on May 19, 2017 in New York City of York. (Photo by Tim Clayton / Corbis via Getty Images)

Fox's 21 former NSRs are generally not as profitable as they once were, but YES Network is a source of revenue and, in some local markets, ratings have increased over the past two years. On most channels, professional baseball is the main attraction.

<p class = "canvas-atom-canvas-text Mb (1.0em) Mb (0) – sm Mt (0.8em) – sm" type = "text" content = "The sales process for the 22 RSNs had become a very public race: at different moments of the process, Liberty Media, the rapper Ice Cube and even & nbsp;Major League Baseball itself"data-reactid =" 34 "> The sale process of the 22 RSN had become a very public race Liberty Media, the rapper Ice Cube, and even the Major League Baseball itself would have been interested.

Yahoo Finance solicited comments from Disney and Sinclair; neither company has yet publicly confirmed the agreement.

<p class = "canvas-atom canvas-text Mb (1.0em) Mb (0) – sm Mt (0.8em) – sm" type = "text" content = "Daniel Roberts is the sports editor at Yahoo Finance. Follow him on Twitter @readDanwrite."data-reactid =" 37 ">Daniel Roberts is the sports editor at Yahoo Finance. Follow him on Twitter @readDanwrite.

<p class = "canvas-atom canvas-text Mb (1.0em) Mb (0) – sm Mt (0.8em) – sm" type = "text" content = "Read more:"data-reactid =" 38 ">Read more:

<p class = "canvas-atom canvas-text Mb (1.0em) Mb (0) – sm Mt (0.8em) – sm" type = "text" content = "The agreement between Yankees TV puts Bezos in business with Sinclair, a friend of Trump"data-reactid =" 39 "> Agreement with Yankees TV puts Bezos in business with Sinclair, a friend of Trump

<p class = "canvas-atom canvas-text Mb (1.0em) Mb (0) – sm Mt (0.8em) – sm" type = "text" content = "MLB and Amazon interested in buying Fox RSN from Disney"data-reactid =" 40 "> MLB, Amazon is interested in buying Disney's RSN Fox numbers

<p class = "canvas-atom canvas-text Mb (1.0em) Mb (0) – sm Mt (0.8em) – sm" type = "text" content = "Who will buy Fox's 22 regional sports networks?"data-reactid =" 41 "> Who will buy Fox's 22 regional sports networks?

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<p class = "canvas-atom canvas-text Mb (1.0em) Mb (0) – sm Mt (0.8em) – sm" type = "text" content = "Amazon Prime and YouTube TV are in a sports streaming race"data-reactid =" 43 "> Amazon Prime and YouTube TV take part in a sports streaming race

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