Disney offloads YES Network for $3.47BN
Details
Michelle Clancy
| 30 August 2019

Disney has sold the crown jewels of the US regional sports networks (RSNs) it inherited from Fox – the YES Network, home of the New York Yankees – to an investor group comprising Yankee Global Enterprises, Sinclair Broadcast Group and Amazon.com.


Launched in 2002, YES Network claimed to have been the most-watched regional sports network in the US in 14 of the past 16 years. It owns the exclusive local TV rights of the 27-time World Champion New York Yankees, the Brooklyn Nets, Major League Soccer's New York City FC and the WNBA's New York Liberty. YES also televises original biography, interview and magazine programmes, college sports and Manchester City soccer.

The investor group acquired the 80% of the assets that the Yankees already didn't own, for an enterprise value of $3.47 billion.

Disney had been required to divest Fox’ 22 RSNs as a condition of its $72 billion acquisition of the media assets of Fox in 2018. Disney entered into a consent decree with the US Department Of Justice that allowed its acquisition of 21st Century Fox to proceed while requiring the subsequent sale of the RSNs.

In May 2019, Disney sealed a deal with Sinclair Broadcastingsealed a deal with Sinclair Broadcasting to divest the 21 RSNs in a transaction valued at $10.6 billion. At the time Sinclair’s purchase did not include 21st Century Fox’s equity interest in the YES Network, home of the New York Yankees, considered then to be worth more than $4 billion alone.