Lakers agree to $3 Billion television deal w/ Time Warner

[ImmortalD24]

Published February 15, 2011
Time Warner Cable signed a 20-year rights deal with the Lakers that will lead to the creation of two new regional sports networks in the L.A. market next year. Time Warner Cable will fully own the two new RSNs -- one in English and one in Spanish. The RSNs will have the rights to pre-, regular- and postseason Lakers games starting with the '12-13 season. Fox, which already operates FS West and Prime Ticket in L.A., had been negotiating to keep the Lakers’ rights on FS West, and sources familiar with the Lakers' proposal to Fox indicated that the team was looking for a $3B, 20-year deal, which averages out to $150M per year.

The Lakers' exclusive negotiating window with FSN, which carries Lakers games on FS West, lapsed at the end of December; the club's exclusive negotiating window with local broadcaster KCAL-CBS, which carries 41 games, ceased at the end of September. FSN VP/PR Chris Bellitti released a statement yesterday saying, "Fox made an offer to the Lakers that would have paid them one of the highest local TV rights fees in professional sports. We did not believe that going higher was in the best interest of our business or pay TV customers in Los Angeles, who will bear the cost of this deal for years to come." Because of the popularity of the Lakers, many of their games are picked up by national broadcasters. ESPN has the right to carry up to 10 Lakers games on its net and six on ABC, and it generally has used most of those over the past several years. TNT can show the Lakers up to nine times during the regular season (John Ourand, THE DAILY). In L.A., Joe Flint cites sources as saying that under their deal with FS West, the Lakers were "getting about $30 million a year in rights fees." A KCAL spokesperson said that the loss of the Lakers "will not stop the channel from making 'local sports a big part of the station's identity'" (L.A. TIMES, 2/15).

http://www.sportsbusinessdaily.com/Dail ... rsTWC.aspx

[ImmortalD24]

http://www.nba.com/lakers/news/110214la ... ement.html

Los Angeles Lakers and Time Warner Cable Sign Long-Term Agreement for Lakers Games
Feb 15 2011 3:34PM

New York, NY and El Segundo, CA – Time Warner Cable and the Los Angeles Lakers today entered into a 20-year, wide-ranging agreement for rights to distribute all locally available pre-season, regular season, and post-season Lakers games, beginning with the 2012-2013 season.

To showcase the games, Time Warner Cable will launch two regional sports networks in HD, including the nation’s first Spanish-language regional sports network, with new state-of-the-art facilities in Los Angeles, to bring fans the most compelling Lakers content using the latest technology. The networks will be available to all satellite, cable and telco distributors in the Lakers’ territory, which includes all of Southern California, Nevada and Hawaii.

The networks will include a number of elements custom-designed for Lakers fans, including:
. A single destination where Lakers fans can find all locally-televised home and away games and a variety of new and original Lakers’ content featuring behind-the-scenes, personality and classic programming.
. All Lakers games will be produced in high definition, with state-of-the-art technology and high production values in English & Spanish. The Spanish-language channel is a stand alone RSN with its own dedicated production of game telecasts and other unique content tailored to Spanish speaking Lakers fans – not a SAP feed.
. All games will feature pre and post-game shows produced separately in both English and Spanish.
. A Lakers news and magazine show throughout the season.
. Joint community relations initiatives.
. New online and on demand multi-platform content featuring the Lakers.


“This long-term agreement represents a huge win for all Lakers fans, providing destination channels, more content and more platforms for the Lakers, one of the premier brands in professional sports today,” said Glenn Britt, Time Warner Cable’s Chairman & CEO. “It allows us to secure great ‘must-have’ content for our customers in an advantageous arrangement that affords us greater control over our own economic destiny for decades to come. We’ll be able to fully leverage our experience in local and regional programming; we have been at the forefront of the industry with 24-hour regional news and 24-hour regional news in Spanish, and now we’re breaking ground with the nation’s first Spanish-language regional sports network, something that’s tailor made for Southern California.”

“The Buss family is thrilled to join forces with Time Warner Cable in building the TV home for Lakers fans," said Dr. Jerry Buss, Lakers Owner. “Time Warner Cable has been producing quality sports programming for over a decade and the Lakers have been producing championship seasons for even longer. I am particularly proud of being part of the first ever Spanish-language RSN in the country. Together I’m confident we will delight our fans.”

Terms of the agreement were not disclosed.