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Yankees Appear Headed to WFAN, Bumping Mets

September 10, 2013 by

Most often, the Yankees have come out ahead, winning eight World Series in that time as opposed to two for the Mets, and not stumbling into habitual losing or financial peril as their cross-town rival recently has.

Now the Yankees appear to have outdone the Mets again. Their new radio deal, when completed, will put them on WFAN Radio for the next 10 years for at least $15 million a year, according to an executive briefed on the negotiations but not authorized to comment.  WFAN could also carry the New York City Football Club, an expansion Major League Soccer team that is a partnership of the Yankees and Manchester City of England’s Premier League.

By moving to all-sports WFAN from all-news WCBS-AM after this season, the Yankees will bump the Mets from WFAN, ending an association between the team and the station that began with the station’s inception in 1987.

The identity of the Mets’ new radio home is almost as uncertain as the season when they will become winners again.

“What was important for the Mets was WFAN’s signal, 660, the best AM signal in North America, which is a big bonus for the Mets and their network,” said Joel Hollander, a former chief executive of CBS Radio, the owner of WFAN and WCBS-AM, the radio home of the Yankees since 2002. “That was something the Mets liked very much.”

WFAN is also on the FM dial at 101.9.

During a visit to a firehouse Tuesday in Midtown Manhattan, Jeff Wilpon, the Mets’ chief operating officer, said it was “fairly accurate” that the team was leaving WFAN, and he indicated that for a while longer, Mets radio rights would be in limbo.

“We’re still negotiating with numerous parties about what we’re going to do with our radio,” Wilpon said. He said it would probably take about six weeks to complete a deal with a new station.

Michael Harrison, the editor and publisher of Talkers magazine, called the development a “minor blow” to the Mets.

“Ultimately, sports fans will listen to the team they want to hear on any station,” Harrison said. “It doesn’t matter all that much what the station is.”

He said the Mets could be hurt if they moved to a station lacking a signal powerful enough to reach the geographic swath of the New York market.

The Mets could be negotiating with ESPN New York Radio, at 98.7 FM; WOR-AM, at 710, which is owned by Clear Channel Communications; and WABC-AM, at 770. ESPN and WOR showed particular interest in the Yankees’ rights.

Hollander said he doubted the Mets would replace the Yankees at WCBS.

Still, whatever the Mets will be paid, it most likely will not approach what the Yankees are getting.

The price tag of $15 million or more underscores the Yankees’ greater advertiser and audience appeal — and the desire by CBS Radio to keep them from leaving. This year, WCBS is paying the Yankees about $14 million, about double what WFAN is paying the Mets.

“They’re so cash-rich at CBS Radio that they’re letting them do it,” Hollander said. “They didn’t want to lose the brand.”

Lonn Trost, the Yankees’ chief operating officer, declined to give any details of the change, but said, “We’re getting close.”

Yankee games drew a 1.4 rating in 2011 that fell to a 1.0 last season, according to Scarborough, a media research firm.

The Mets’ rating of 0.9 in 2011 decreased to a 0.8 in 2012. This season’s Scarborough rating was unavailable.

The futures of John Sterling and Suzyn Waldman as the Yankees’ radio announcers do not seem in doubt. Ultimately, the Yankees have final approval over the announcers but consult with the station, and the team has shown no unhappiness with them. But over the next 10 years at WFAN, their workload could be reduced to allow the Yankees to introduce a younger voice who might be with the team for next two or three decades. Sterling, in his 25th season with the Yankees, is in his 70s; Waldman, in her ninth season, is 67.

Assuming that they return, they will now call Yankee games on a station devoted to sports, not news.

“Across the country, we’re seeing time and again that when they have the option, teams go to all-sports stations,” said Frank Saxe, managing editor of Inside Radio, an industry publication. “It’s not just baseball, but all leagues realize that if you’re in a sports environment, you have a better opportunity to reach your core fan.”

Article source: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/11/sports/baseball/yankees-moving-to-wfan-bumping-the-mets.html?partner=rss&emc=rss

Filed Under: Media Business Tagged With: , ,

In Season Short on Star Power, Rodriguez’s Return Lifts Ratings on YES

August 6, 2013 by

The results have been predictable: a 57-54 record through Monday and fourth place in the American League East.

With far less excitement, fewer fans have been watching Yankees games on the YES Network — until Monday night.

A boost, however ephemeral, was provided when Alex Rodriguez played his first game of the season just hours after being suspended by Major League Baseball for 211 days, pending an appeal, for using performance-enhancing drugs.

The game against the Chicago White Sox, an otherwise unimportant matchup for the standings, generated the highest Yankees rating on YES this season, eclipsing a Mets-Yankees game in May. The Rodriguez-fueled average rating of a 4.34 (or 393,000 viewers) was a 71 percent improvement over the season’s average of a 2.53, which, itself, is down 36 percent over last year at this time.

Curiosity about Rodriguez — and what he was capable of doing after hip surgery, a quadriceps injury and being walloped with a suspension that could sideline him without pay until the 2015 season — brought an unusually high number of viewers to the game before the first pitch at 8 p.m. Eastern at U.S. Cellular Field. For the first 15 minutes, the game generated a 6.2 rating.

The 8.2 peak rating (or 756,000 viewers) for the game occurred from 8:30 to 8:45, when Rodriguez came to bat for the first time and singled. By then, the Yankees were behind, 3-0; by the end of the third inning, they were trailing, 7-0. The rating was already in descent. Clearly, interest in what Rodriguez would do in his next three at-bats (a flyout, a line-out and a strikeout) was evaporating. When the game ended between 10:45 and 11 p.m., the rating stood at a 2.5, the season’s average.

Before the game, YES carried a “Yankeeography” episode about Gene Michael from 6 to 7 p.m., rather than cut live to Rodriguez’s 13-minute news conference, which began at 6:15 p.m. A spokesman for YES said that in its 7-to-8-p.m. pregame program it showed nearly all of Rodriguez’s remarks and parts of Manager Joe Girardi’s news conference, along with player reaction and analysis.

Article source: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/07/sports/baseball/rodriguezs-return-boosts-ratings-on-yes.html?partner=rss&emc=rss

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Einhorn Could Become Principal Owner of Mets

May 29, 2011 by Leave a Comment

Einhorn is expected to receive a one-third share of the Mets in return for his investment, but could gain much more. He will have the option in three years of raising his stake to 60 percent, effectively ending more than three decades of control of the team by the Wilpon family.

Fred Wilpon, the principal owner, could block a move to take over his team by repaying the $200 million invested by Einhorn. But Einhorn would then retain his one-third share of the team, essentially at no net cost, according to the person with direct knowledge of the negotiations, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to publicly discuss the matter.

Steve Greenberg, the investment banker hired by the Wilpons to sell a minority stake in the Mets, declined to comment. Rob Manfred, executive vice president of Major League Baseball, also declined to discuss the deal. A spokesman for Einhorn said he had no comment. In a statement, the Mets said their exclusive negotiating agreement with Einhorn was “strictly confidential.” They later issued a second statement saying “there is uninformed speculation regarding terms of a potential deal.”

It is unclear what Einhorn would have to pay to increase his stake in the team to 60 percent in three years. Customarily, an auditor would be hired to revalue the franchise to determine the basis for negotiations over a price.

The deal now being discussed between Einhorn and the Mets does not include a stake in SNY, the team’s profitable cable television network. Einhorn said Thursday that he was not interested in the television business, unlike many other bidders for the team.

The outline of the proposed deal was first reported by ESPNNewYork.com.

Though the deal is not final and is subject to the approval of Major League Baseball, its terms underscore the vulnerability of the Wilpons, whose team is swimming in debt, bleeding cash and losing fans. Wilpon said the team could lose about $70 million this year, $20 million more than last year.

The Mets are also embroiled in a legal battle with Irving H. Picard, the trustee representing the victims of the fraud in Bernard L. Madoff’s Ponzi scheme, who is seeking $1 billion from the Wilpon family.

Einhorn, 42, is expected to seek legal indemnity from that case, which is being mediated by Mario M. Cuomo, the former governor of New York. Einhorn is also likely to clarify what role he would have if the Mets were forced to sell the club.

The potential agreement with Einhorn “certainly demonstrates a desperate need for immediate cash by Wilpon,” said Marc Ganis, the president of SportsCorp, an industry advisory firm. Einhorn, on the other hand, was striking a clever deal, he said.

“His downside is he receives one-third of the Mets for a three-year, $200 million loan,” Ganis said. “His upside is he would be the control owner of the Mets in three years at a reasonable valuation and only have to buy 60 percent, not 100 percent, to achieve that.”

Einhorn is president and co-founder of Greenlight Capital, a hedge fund that manages about $8 billion. His willingness to invest $200 million in a distressed team and maintain a path to majority ownership echoes a strategy he has used in amassing his fortune. He is known for buying into severely undervalued assets that have the potential to recover.

Few teams publicize the sale of minority stakes, and even fewer publicize them before the sales have been made final. Yet the Mets announced their intention to sell 20 to 25 percent of the club four months ago. Since then, the team has slumped in the standings and experienced a 10 percent decline in attendance from last year.

Wilpon was roundly criticized last week for making negative comments about his star players and for calling his team “lousy” and “snakebitten.” He also said his team was “bleeding cash.”

The announcement that the Mets were in exclusive negotiations appears to have given the upper hand to Einhorn, because it deterred other potential investors and set up an expectation that a sale would be made.

Still, Wilpon, who made his fortune in real estate, may be calculating that the team and the economy may recover in three years, which would make it easier for him to raise the cash needed to fend off a takeover. At that time, Wilpon could sell part of his stake in SNY to Einhorn, or raise cash to repay him.

In the short term, the $200 million from Einhorn is almost certain to meet the team’s most pressing needs and potentially stabilize its finances into next year. The Mets are expected to use half the money to pay back loans to banks and Major League Baseball, according to several people with direct knowledge of the team’s finances. The rest would help pay player salaries and cover other expenses.

By selling the club in pieces, Wilpon may also be trying to reduce the amount of capital-gains tax he would have to pay at any one time.

Article source: http://feeds.nytimes.com/click.phdo?i=604347e77ec460d8f91977146f92358b

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