Tuesday, Jul. 13, 2010
The TV-Rights Deal
In 1988, Steinbrenner revolutionized the business side of baseball, becoming the first team owner to sell TV rights to a cable network. A $486 million contract was signed with the MSG Network, owned by Cablevision founder Charles Dolan. The deal, a major breadwinner for the franchise, was in place until the creation of the YES Network in 2002. Though the deal was undoubtedly a lucrative one, Steinbrenner came under fire for handing the games' exclusivity over to cable, for which only 39% of the homes in New York City were wired.