Fox Networks, cable's retransmission consent nemesis, has taken its aggressive attitude one step further by lending Los Angeles Dodgers' owner Frank McCourt $30 million to meet the team's payroll.
According to multiple reports, the reason behind the money was simple: Keep Time Warner Cable (NYSE: TWC) from bidding on the TV rights for the team when its current deal runs out in 2014.
Things get even more complicated because the whole mess is tied to the divorce between Dodgers owner Frank McCourt and his wife Jamie. News Corp. (Nasdaq: NWSA), Fox's parent company, sold the team to the McCourts with a clause that said Fox could match any competing TV rights offers. Fox recently tried to sign a 20-year, $2.5 billion deal but Major League Baseball put the kibosh on that because of the divorce mess.
Now, according to multiple reports, Fox is going through yet another backdoor to maintain the broadcasting rights to the Dodgers and keep them away from Time Warner Cable which recently locked up the rights to the Los Angeles Lakers basketball team.
For more:
- the Hollywood Reporter has this story
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