Mike123abc
06-12-03, 06:08 PM
The Wall Street Journal has a nice long article on all the negotiations for YES: http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB105536397647937400,00.html?mod=home%5Fpage%5F one%5Fus
You have to be a subscriber to read it, it was done by a staff reporter so I do not know if it will be available on free sources any time soon. I think you could sign up for the free trial if you just wanted to read this. It is a very very long article:
Goldman figured the network would need to cut rich deals to earn the profits expected by the Goldman investment group, which included the private-investment firm Providence Equity Partners. Goldman's private equity fund shoots for at least a 25% annual return.
That meant the network would have to charge Cablevision and other cable and satellite operators about $2 a month for most of their subscribers. This was at the top of the range of rates YankeeNets had been thinking of charging, and more than any startup sports network had ever gotten from cable operators. They knew it would be a hard sell, especially to Cablevision Chairman Charles Dolan and his son James, the company's chief executive. The two had strived to keep the Yankees on MSG after 2001. But Mr. Hindery was close to them. Mr. Hindery had served on Cablevision's board and attended James Dolan's wedding in early 2002, giving him a toaster.
The connections weren't enough. A fee of $2 per subscriber translated to a $72 million annual bill to Cablevision, a big jump over the $52 million its MSG Network paid for the Yankee game rights in 2001. Cablevision refused to pay, even though that meant its subscribers wouldn't see Yankee games in 2002. Mr. Dolan returned the toaster to Mr. Hindery, and the fight was on.
You have to be a subscriber to read it, it was done by a staff reporter so I do not know if it will be available on free sources any time soon. I think you could sign up for the free trial if you just wanted to read this. It is a very very long article:
Goldman figured the network would need to cut rich deals to earn the profits expected by the Goldman investment group, which included the private-investment firm Providence Equity Partners. Goldman's private equity fund shoots for at least a 25% annual return.
That meant the network would have to charge Cablevision and other cable and satellite operators about $2 a month for most of their subscribers. This was at the top of the range of rates YankeeNets had been thinking of charging, and more than any startup sports network had ever gotten from cable operators. They knew it would be a hard sell, especially to Cablevision Chairman Charles Dolan and his son James, the company's chief executive. The two had strived to keep the Yankees on MSG after 2001. But Mr. Hindery was close to them. Mr. Hindery had served on Cablevision's board and attended James Dolan's wedding in early 2002, giving him a toaster.
The connections weren't enough. A fee of $2 per subscriber translated to a $72 million annual bill to Cablevision, a big jump over the $52 million its MSG Network paid for the Yankee game rights in 2001. Cablevision refused to pay, even though that meant its subscribers wouldn't see Yankee games in 2002. Mr. Dolan returned the toaster to Mr. Hindery, and the fight was on.