Bill Shaikin of the Los Angeles Times has more details on the Dodgers $6 billion TV deal with Time-Warner.
The Dodgers would retain more than $6 billion from their new television contract under a tentative agreement with Major League Baseball, according to two people familiar with the agreement.
The settlement would avert a showdown between the Dodgers and MLB in U.S. Bankruptcy Court and would effectively end the court’s jurisdiction over the Dodgers’ affairs. The people providing the information about the settlement spoke on condition of anonymity because negotiations have not concluded.
MLB officials declined to comment. Dodgers co-owner Todd Boehly said he could not discuss ongoing negotiations but said the team could maintain its record player payroll under the settlement.
The Dodgers would like to sign ace Clayton Kershaw to a long-term contract extension, and the expected price tag could be at least $200 million. New York Yankees second baseman Robinson Cano, the best player among potential free agents this fall, might also command a $200-million contract.
Boehly declined to comment on specific players. However, when asked whether the Dodgers could afford to take on two players with $200-million contracts if the baseball operations department recommended it, he answered, “Yes.”
vegas blue
Hi Bob… Longtime Dodgers fan here who happens to also work in tv news. My dream job would be to produce programs for this new dodgers network. I’m wondering if you seen any information about when they might start building their “team” for tv? I suppose if negotiations are ongoing…that step is probably still a little ways away. I’ve made a few calls to Dodgers PR… But they have no real idea.
Anonymous
That would be a better question to ask Jon when he comes back. I just hope that DirecTV doesn’t hold this network hostage like they did with the Lakers Time-Warner Network. Or not carry it all like the Pac-12 Network.
Anonymous
Does Direct have it locked up? I have been with Dish for 10 years, hate the thought of changing…
Anonymous
I used the wrong metaphor. DirecTV didn’t want to run the Lakers channel until they got a better deal. So they were holding the viewers hostage. Time-Warner, which also owns part of the Pac-12 Network, has no trouble carrying the Lakers, Pac-12, or the future Dodgers network.
In the future, all wars will be fought between cable TV providers and content providers.
Anonymous
Time Warner will be charging other cable operators a monthly fee to carry the new Dodger network on the basic cable tier; probably around $5 a month. DirecTV has a high percentage of subscribers who are sports fans, so they will probably give in and pay the $5 and figure out how to absorb the costs without raising rates. You may have noticed they already charge a $2 RSN fee because there are so many Regional Sports Networks in LA now.
But not every cable company wants to pay $5 per subscriber to carry a channel that only 10% of subscribers give a crap about. So don’t be surprised if Verizon Fios or Cox or Dish decide they don’t care about a channel featuring a team that has just come off its worst season since 2005.
Anonymous
They are better businessmen than that. They know the fan base will be there win or lose. The most rabid gambler I ever knew told me the next best thing to winning was losing, what they can’t stand is not being in on the action….
Anonymous
Contact Vinnie. He knows everyone and everything about the Dodgers. And if anyone can fix that, he can. And we all know he is the dictionary definition of a nice guy. Serious, no tongue-in-cheek here.
Anonymous
NPUT