The New York Yankees are in talks to buy back YES Network as Disney and Twenty-First Century Fox look to clear their $71.3 billion merger, The NYPost is reporting.
It amounts to “a foregone conclusion” the Bronx Bombers will exercise their right of first refusal to buy the 80 percent of YES they don’t own, according to a source familiar with the talks.
“They plan to own all 100 percent,” the source said, “and they’re already talking to strategic and financial parties about divvying up ownership again — much like the current relationship with Fox.”
The Yankees obtained their refusal right in 2014, when Fox upped its stake to 80 percent in a deal that allowed a buyback should it ever sell.
YES, the “crown jewel” of the 22 regional sports networks that Disney must sell upon taking over the movie and TV assets of Fox, broadcasts games of the Yankees and Brooklyn Nets to more than five million New York area households.
Disney already owns ESPN, which feeds sports programming to 86 million subscribers.
To resolve Justice Department antitrust concerns, Disney agreed to sell all of Fox’s RSNs within 90 days of closing on its deal for the other Fox assets. Disney has said it wants to close all the deals by early next year.
The auction for the RSNs is already underway, with co-managers Allen & Co. and JPMorgan Chase receiving bids from more than 40 parties on Nov. 8, sources said. The co-managers are expected to reduce this field to a manageable number for a second round of bidding inside of three weeks.
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