News Corp. Nearing Deal to Acquire YES Network Stake

Investment could help bolster affiliate fees for Yankees' RSN

By MCN Staff -- Broadcasting & Cable, 11/15/2012 2:06:31 PM

While Prime Ticket continues its exclusive negotiations to retain media rights to the Los Angeles Dodgers, News Corp. has set its sights on connecting with another regional sports network on the East Coast: the YES Network.

News Corp. is said to be nearing a deal that would give it a large minority stake in YES, the cable home to the New York Yankees and the NBA's Brooklyn Nets, with an eye toward increasing the regional sports network's affiliate fees structure.

According to published reports, News Corp. within the next couple of days could acquire as much as 40% of YES by purchasing stakes from longtime investors Goldman Sachs Group and Providence Equity Partners that would value the RSN at some $3 billion. Those investment firms, along with Yankee Global Enterprises, the MLB team's holding company, are the principal holders in YES, which has consistently ranked at or near the top of RSNs when it comes to primetime ratings, driven by its Bronx Bombers' telecasts.

Sources familiar with the negotiations indicate that after the deal Goldman and Providence would retain smaller stakes in YES. Yankees Global Enterprises holds a 34% in the RSN.

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