Posted in Media
1 comment
02/16 2011

What Does The New Lakers Network Mean?

Posted by Ken Fang.

On Monday, the Los Angeles Lakers shook up the sports world by rejecting offers from their current TV rightsholders, Fox Sports Net and CBS-owned KCAL and announcing that it had signed a 20 year agreement with Time Warner Cable. This not only creates one regional sports network, but two, one in English and the very first American regional sports network programmed totally in Spanish. In one short fallen swoop, the new Lakers channels became gamechangers and were a wake up call to every single team looking to create its own regional sports network. How so? Let’s take a look at the five things this has changed.

1. Time Warner Cable Suddenly Became A Player in Sports Television
Before Monday, no one saw Time Warner Cable as an entity in the sports television field. The company has a share in SNY which airs the New York Mets and Big East basketball, but Comcast has the day-to-day operation of the channel. In addition, Time Warner Cable has some local sports on its systems across the country, but until Monday, not a major sports property to call its own. Now with the Lakers, it not only has some equity, but a team it can partner with another team in the Los Angeles market. The next major team up for bid will be the Dodgers in 2013 and you can rest assured that Time Warner will be very interested.

2. $3 Billion is a Lot of Money
The Los Angeles Times reports that Time Warner will pay upwards of about $3 billion. That makes the Lakers a very rich team and keeps them in the forefront of the NBA. Don’t think that owner Jerry Buss isn’t a very happy man knowing that he has a very good cash flow even before he sells one ticket for the next 20 seasons and possibly beyond. It also provides funding for free agency and to keep his own players in-house. The Lakers will have a nice war chest, not that they didn’t have one already.

3. The Lakers Have Tapped Into A Growing Market
By establishing a dedicated Spanish-language regional sports network, the Lakers have tapped into a huge market. And don’t think the Lakers suddenly thought of this. This isn’t just turning on the SAP channel on your TV and getting a Spanish simulcast. This is now a 24/7 channel that will have its own game production separate from the English language channel and will include ancillary programming like pre and postgame shows, weekly highlight shows as well as other series catering to the Hispanic community. If the Hispanic liked the Lakers before, they’ll really like them in 2o12 when a channel just for them premieres just in time for the NBA preseason.

4. Fox Sports Net Has Been Put On Notice
Fox has lost not only the Lakers, but also the Houston Rockets and Astros. Comcast SportsNet is growing quite fast in its purchase of sports rights throughout the country. And if Time Warner asserts itself in other markets where it’s dominant like New York, Charlotte, Cincinnati and Milwaukee, Fox could find itself in a bidding war for NBA and NHL teams and if that happens, a once-strong consortium of regional sports networks could fall apart. Fox Sports Net still has the rights to pro teams across the United States, but that could change if it can’t match the deep pockets of Comcast and Time Warner. This is something that bears watching.

5. Teams Are Now Under Pressure to Start Their Own Regional Sports Network
The Lakers are in such a strong position that it could afford to leave the sanctity of Fox Sports Net and KCAL to launch its own RSN. Los Angeles sports fans are rightfully scorned for their lack of passion, but when it comes to the Lakers, SoCal can be downright fanatical. Teams like the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox are able to form their own regional sports networks due to the strength of their fanbase and ratings. Plus, they’re such strong brands that their fans will demand to see them no matter what the cost. Major market teams will use the threat of starting a new regional sports network to get additional revenue from their broadcast partners. It will be interesting to see if other teams play possum with their broadcast rights.

So where does this leave us? It leaves us with a season and a half before the launch of the channels. It’s going to be quite interesting  as the launch approaches.

Ken Fang is the editor of the Sports Media blog, Fang’s Bites and contributes to Press Coverage on sports media matters.

Share
Posted on February 16, 2011 at 11:00AM

 

USER COMMENTS

Track comments via RSS 2.0 feed. Feel free to post the comment, or trackback from your web site.

  1. Some Mid-Week Linkage
    02/16 2011

    [...] Levy’s Press Coverage site on what the Los Angeles Lakers’ new regional sports networks will mean for [...]