The Daily News quoted sources close to the negotiations as saying that the deal was not expected to be finalised until after Jan. 1 for tax reasons and that Steinbrenner would remain at the helm of the club.
Under the terms of the deal, which would make the Yankees the most valuable team in the sport's history, Cablevision would buy 70 percent of the Yankees from Steinbrenner and several of the club's minority owners for between $550 million and $650 million, a figure that would push the total value of the club to $785 million, the reports said.
Spokesmen for Steinbrenner and Cablevision head Chuck Dolan could not be reached for comment on the reports.
Steinbrenner, a native of Cleveland, has had a love-hate relationship with Yankees fans, players and New York City for the past 25 years. He and business partners bought the franchise from CBS for $10 million in 1973.
Woodbury, NY-based Cablevision already owns the basketball Knicks, the ice hockey Rangers, Madison Square Garden and Radio City Music Hall. Cablevision has a 12-year, $486 million contract to broadcast Yankees games until 2000.
Newspaper, radio and TV reports said Cablevision executives believed that they should take an ownership stake rather than pay even more money for future broadcast rights to the Yankees, which has won the World Series in two of the last three seasons.
The highest price paid for a baseball franchise was $311 million by Rupert Murdoch for the Los Angeles Dodgers this year. Also this year, billionaire banker Al Lerner paid the most money for a sports franchise with the $530 million purchase of the Cleveland Browns National Football League club.
It was not immediately clear what affect the reported deal with Cablevision would have on the future of Yankee Stadium in the Bronx. Steinbrenner has cited crime, shortage of parking and attendance he considers too low in threatening to move the "Bronx Bombers" out of the 75-year-old stadium to a new venue in Manhattan or New Jersey.
Reuters
