Mike
02-01-03, 12:31 AM
Brewers hire consultant for TV deal
Last Updated: Jan. 30, 2003
http://www.jsonline.com/sports/brew/jan03/114655.asp
The Milwaukee Brewers, poised to begin negotiations for the renewal of their cable TV deal, have hired a consultant to advise them about the value of their cable TV rights and distribution structure.
The club has hired Mark Wyche, the managing director of Denver-based Bortz Media & Sports Group.
The Brewers' six-year deal with Fox Sports Net North, which began in 1998 with Midwest Sports Channel, ends after this season.
FSN paid the Brewers $2.6 million in 2002 for the rights to the games, according to Broadcasting & Cable, a television trade magazine.
FSN produces all Brewers broadcasts and sells all the ads for the games. The Brewers buy time on WCGV-TV (Channel 24) and on WISN-TV (Channel 12) for the games broadcast on over-the-air stations in the Milwaukee market.
The Brewers new executive vice president-business operations Brewers, Rick Schlesinger, said the club's first obligation in the process of getting a deal is to negotiate with FSN.
"We haven't exchanged financial information or proposals," Schlesinger said Thursday. "We have just started the process."
Schlesinger, a Milwaukee native, joined the Brewers in December. He was the vice president of business and legal affairs for the Anaheim Angels.
"We are currently working on our proposal," said Fox Sports Net North spokesman Greg Phillips.
Schlesinger said the Brewers and FSN have been good partners.
"From the production side, it's been very good," Schlesinger said. "They have a reputation of being pretty innovative. It's been a good relationship. If I could wave a magic wand, I would love to have all the production innovation I have, the widest possible reach for the television audience and also the best financial deal for the club."
Schlesinger agreed the weak economy is not an ideal environment to win an optimum rights return. But all baseball teams and their local broadcasting partners face the same challenge.
The Brewers' poor play in recent years can't help their effort to gain a top return, either.
But Schlesinger said no club knows how its team is going to perform from year to year, noting his former team, the Angels, won a World Series in the fourth year of a 10-year cable deal.
"Your deal has to take into account that the team performance is an unknown," Schlesinger said. "And for us we hope it is better."
Last Updated: Jan. 30, 2003
http://www.jsonline.com/sports/brew/jan03/114655.asp
The Milwaukee Brewers, poised to begin negotiations for the renewal of their cable TV deal, have hired a consultant to advise them about the value of their cable TV rights and distribution structure.
The club has hired Mark Wyche, the managing director of Denver-based Bortz Media & Sports Group.
The Brewers' six-year deal with Fox Sports Net North, which began in 1998 with Midwest Sports Channel, ends after this season.
FSN paid the Brewers $2.6 million in 2002 for the rights to the games, according to Broadcasting & Cable, a television trade magazine.
FSN produces all Brewers broadcasts and sells all the ads for the games. The Brewers buy time on WCGV-TV (Channel 24) and on WISN-TV (Channel 12) for the games broadcast on over-the-air stations in the Milwaukee market.
The Brewers new executive vice president-business operations Brewers, Rick Schlesinger, said the club's first obligation in the process of getting a deal is to negotiate with FSN.
"We haven't exchanged financial information or proposals," Schlesinger said Thursday. "We have just started the process."
Schlesinger, a Milwaukee native, joined the Brewers in December. He was the vice president of business and legal affairs for the Anaheim Angels.
"We are currently working on our proposal," said Fox Sports Net North spokesman Greg Phillips.
Schlesinger said the Brewers and FSN have been good partners.
"From the production side, it's been very good," Schlesinger said. "They have a reputation of being pretty innovative. It's been a good relationship. If I could wave a magic wand, I would love to have all the production innovation I have, the widest possible reach for the television audience and also the best financial deal for the club."
Schlesinger agreed the weak economy is not an ideal environment to win an optimum rights return. But all baseball teams and their local broadcasting partners face the same challenge.
The Brewers' poor play in recent years can't help their effort to gain a top return, either.
But Schlesinger said no club knows how its team is going to perform from year to year, noting his former team, the Angels, won a World Series in the fourth year of a 10-year cable deal.
"Your deal has to take into account that the team performance is an unknown," Schlesinger said. "And for us we hope it is better."