The New York Yankees are looking to buy the team’s YES, regional sports network.
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The team is in talks with Amazon.com and broadcaster Sinclair Broadcast Group about partnering for a bid.
The Yankee Entertainment and Sports Network, which carries Yankee baseball and Brooklyn Nets basketball, is among the 21st Century Fox assets that Walt Disney Co. is required to sell for the government to approve its purchase of the majority of the company.
The Yankees own 20% of YES and have first dibs on acquiring the remaining 80%.
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The talks are still in early stages and a partnership with either Amazon or Sinclair isn’t guaranteed, executives close to matter said.
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As the primary TV home for one of the most popular franchises in the number-one media market, YES is seen as one of the most valuable sports properties in the country.
For Amazon, a stake in YES would give it entry into another realm of the sports business. It already streams National Football League games on Thursday nights live on its Prime platform.
Rupert Murdoch’s media empire acquired a majority stake in YES through two transactions, in 2012 and 2014, that valued the network at more than $3 billion, The Wall Street Journal reported at the time.
Fox also owns 21 other regional sports channels in major markets across the country, including Los Angeles and Detroit. The other outlets, taken together, have been valued at more than $15 billion by the sellers.
21st Century Fox, which is the parent of FOX News and FOX Business, along with the Journal’s parent News Corp, share common ownership.
