Last week, YankeeNets LLC - the entity that includes the Yankees, the New Jersey Devils National Hockey League team and the New Jersey Nets National Basketball Association team - notified Cablevision that it would not renew its licensing deal for the Yankees with Cablevision.
YankeeNets opted instead to pay Cablevision $30m to retain television rights for next year. It is expected that YankeeNets will attempt to launch its own cable sports network.
ABN AMRO cable analyst John Martin estimates that the Yankees' decision to pull out of a licensing deal with MSGN will cost the Bethpage, NY-based cable operator $89m in revenue next year, $96m in 2003, $104m in 2004 and $111m in 2005. He also estimated that the move also could impact Cablevision's cash flow to the tune of $105m during the next four years.
"The strategic implications are more complicated and less easy to quantify," Martin wrote in his research report.
"Losing the rights calls into question whether MSGN and Fox Sports New York (60 percent owned by CVC) can remain separate viable networks."
The loss of New York Yankees Major League Baseball games from its Madison Square Garden Network could cost Cablevision Systems up to $400million in lost revenue over the next four years, according to a new report.
