The Walt Disney Co. and Sinclair Broadcast Group have entered into a definitive agreement under which Sinclair is paying $9.6 billion to acquire equity stakes in 21 regional sports networks and “Fox College Sports,” which were acquired by Disney in its $71.3 billion acquisition of select 21stCentury Fox assets.
Completion of the transaction is subject to the approval of the U.S. Department of Justice, which had mandated Disney sell the RSNs.
The RSN portfolio, which excludes the New York Yankees’ YES Network, is the largest collection of RSNs, with a footprint that includes exclusive local rights to 42 professional teams consisting of 14 Major League Baseball teams, 16 National Basketball Association teams, and 12 National Hockey League teams.
In 2018, the RSNs generated a combined $3.8 billion in revenue across 74 million subscribers.
The RSNs will be managed under wholly-owned subsidiary of Sinclair, Diamond Sports Group LLC.
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Byron Allen, CEO of Entertainment Studios and owner of The Weather Channel, is an equity and content partner in Diamond Sports Group.
Sinclair’s existing sports business consists of Marquee Sports Network (a joint venture with the Chicago Cubs), Tennis Channel and Tennis Media Company (dedicated to live tennis events and tennis lifestyle), Stadium (a joint venture focused on college sports and professional highlights), Ring of Honor Wrestling (professional wrestling), and high school sports programming (with Friday Night Rivals and Thursday Night Lights).
“While consumer viewing habits have shifted, the tradition of watching live sports and news remains ingrained in our culture,” Chris Ripley, CEO of Sinclair, said in a statement. “This acquisition is an extraordinary opportunity to diversify Sinclair’s content sources and revenue streams with high-quality assets that are driving live viewing. We also see this as an opportunity to realize cross-promotional collaboration, and synergistic benefits related to programming and production.”
“We are pleased to have reached this agreement with Sinclair for the sale of these 21 RSNs, subject to the conditions of the consent decree with the U.S. Department of Justice,” said Disney CFO Christine McCarthy.
The RSNs include Fox Sports Arizona, Fox Sports Detroit, Fox Sports Florida, Fox Sports Sun, Fox Sports North, Fox Sports Wisconsin, Fox Sports Ohio, SportsTime Ohio, Fox Sports South, Fox Sports Carolina, Fox Sports Tennessee, Fox Sports Southeast, Fox Sports Southwest, Fox Sports Oklahoma, Fox Sports New Orleans, Fox Sports Midwest, Fox Sports Kansas City, Fox Sports Indiana, Fox Sports San Diego, Fox Sports West, and Prime Ticket.