YESN? NES?

[Guest Anglesault]

I'm not really sure where this goes, al, it's not quite" this week in sports"

 

August 3, 2004 -- The Yankees and Red Sox are mortal enemies on the field — but they may wind up in business together by merging their lucrative sports networks, The Post has learned.

The management teams at the Yankees and the Red Sox are exploring a plan to merge the YES Network and the Red Sox-owned New England Sports Network, according to sources familiar with the matter.

 

The deal would create a super regional sports network that would air both Yankee and Red Sox games.

 

Talks between the two sides are not advanced, said a source, but "there's a desire of both ownerships to do it. It would make for a powerhouse regional network."

 

In addition, New York Mets owner Fred Wilpon could become a player in the merger talks, sources say.

 

In June, Wilpon announced he had agreed to buy back his television rights from Cablevision's MSG Networks for the 2006 season for $54 million.

 

Now Wilpon is weighing numerous options, including starting his own network with Time Warner Cable or joining up with NESN, sources said.

 

 

 

Meanwhile, on Sunday the Mets games were pulled off the air on Time Warner Cable after the company failed to reach a deal to carry the Cablevision-owned networks MSG and Fox Sports New York, which air the bulk of Mets games. (News Corp., the parent of The Post, owns a stake in FSNY).

 

Spokesmen for YES and NESN declined comment, while a spokesman for Wilpon was unavailable.

 

Combining YES and NESN would give the two networks significantly more clout in rate negotiations with cable operators. It would also likely result in a boon in advertising sales for companies hoping to reach sports fans across the Eastern part of the United States.

 

In addition to Yankee and Sox games, the merged network — which would likely carry at least two channels — would air Boston Bruins and New Jersey Nets games.

 

NESN is owned by the Red Sox and the Bruins. The ownership has never revealed the ownership breakdown, but media reports have said the Sox own 80 percent of NESN, with the Bruins owning the remaining 20 percent.

 

The ownership structure of YES, meanwhile, is complicated given the recent breakup of the YankeeNets partnership.

 

Yankees owner George Steinbrenner and the Nets ownership group led by Ray Chambers — which has proposed to sell the Nets to developer Bruce Ratner — own the bulk of the network. Investment bank Goldman Sachs owns roughly 40 percent of YES, while private equity firm Providence Equity Partners owns a stake.

 

Goldman has been particularly eager to pursue a major deal because it is interested in cashing out its investment in the network, which is valued at more than $300 million.

 

Earlier this year YES was the victor in a long spat with Cablevision that kept Yankee games off Cablevision systems on Long Island during the 2002 baseball season.

[Brett Favre 0]

That would kick ass. Maybe we'd get a Soxography. I'd like to see Nomar's.

[Guest Anglesault]

It sounds really fucking cool.

[Guest TheZsaszHorsemen]

This is something Sox fans and Yankee fans can agree on... it can never happen.

[DerangedHermit 0]

This is something Sox fans and Yankee fans can agree on... it can never happen.

And Mets fans too.....

[the max 0]

There are no Mets fans, silly.

[DerangedHermit 0]

There are no Mets fans, silly.

*raises hand as does at least two other members of this board*

[Guest Anglesault]

There are no Mets fans, silly.

*raises hand as does at least two other members of this board*

I, for one, have been convince for a while that all of you are just Fred Wilpon under different names.

[DerangedHermit 0]

There are no Mets fans, silly.

*raises hand as does at least two other members of this board*

I, for one, have been convince for a while that all of you are just Fred Wilpon under different names.

Do I look like a blithering moron?

[the max 0]

Do you really want an answer to that, Mr. Wilpon?

[Guest Anglesault]

There are no Mets fans, silly.

*raises hand as does at least two other members of this board*

I, for one, have been convince for a while that all of you are just Fred Wilpon under different names.

Do I look like a blithering moron?

Do I have to answer that?

[DerangedHermit 0]

I let that one hang like one of John Franco's pitches.

[Guest Anglesault]

This is something Sox fans and Yankee fans can agree on... it can never happen.

Eh, I really like the Unholy Alliance aspect of YES/NESN

[Guest Anglesault]

Someone on another board decided to "merge" the teams.

 

 

CF Damon

SS Jeter

3B Arod

LF Manny

DH Ortiz

1B Giambi

RF Sheffield

C Posada

2B Bellhorn

 

SP Schilling

SP Brown

SP Pedro

SP Moose

SP Vazquez

 

RP Quantrill

RP Williamson

RP Gordon

RP Foulke

RP Rivera

 

 

That group just might get a .500 record.

[Guest Wildbomb 4:20]

I don't know. I like the idea of them being separate, to be honest. Hell, the Nets games would compete with the Celt...

 

well, maybe this wouldn't be that bad. Although I prefer my Sox games on one network, and never worrying about the other. It'd probably be pure hell, too, to have to split the broadcasts of when the two teams play at the same time.

 

--Ryan

...who says, fuck the money, I want my rivals on different networks...

[Guest Anglesault]

I don't know. I like the idea of them being separate, to be honest. Hell, the Nets games would compete with the Celt...

 

well, maybe this wouldn't be that bad. Although I prefer my Sox games on one network, and never worrying about the other. It'd probably be pure hell, too, to have to split the broadcasts of when the two teams play at the same time.

 

--Ryan

...who says, fuck the money, I want my rivals on different networks...

From what I'm hearing, it would be one network, but separate channels, if that makes any sense. Like YES and NESN would opperate separately but under the same umbrella.

Edited August 4, 2004 by Anglesault