New York -- Helping to offset a portion of its
record-breaking $486 million New York Yankees deal, Madison Square Garden Network last
week sold a two-year, 50-game-per-year broadcast package to the local Fox affiliate here
for about $20 million, sources familiar with the deal said.
At about $350,000 per game, WNYW will pay MSGN nearly the
same price that the cable network is paying the Yankees per game in 1999 for its 100-game
package, sources close to the situation said. The MSG-Yankees deal ends after the 2000
season.
Neither side would reveal specific figures, but Joseph
Cohen, executive vice president of MSGN, said in a prepared statement that the network is
pleased to "continue making Yankees games available to sports fans on broadcast
television, in addition to the 100 games telecast on MSG."
Prior to the deal, regional superstation WPIX-TV carried
the Yankees' broadcast package, although it paid significantly less for the games
than Fox will under the new deal.
