Amazon has emerged as a bidder for the 22 Fox regional sports networks that Disney must divest as a condition of its acquisition of 21st Century Fox, according to a report by CNBC.
Amazon has been steadily getting more active in the sports arena as it expands its video and entertainment operations. The retail giant has been the streaming home of the NFL’s Thursday Night Football since 2017.
Fox’s 22 RSNs have been valued in the $20 billion-$22 billion range. One major asset in the group, New York’s Yes Network, may wind up returning to the New York Yankees, which still owns 20% of the channel. The team is believed to have the first right to buy it back under the sale agreement it struck with Fox in 2012.
CNBC reported that the Yankees have joined forced with private equity giant Blackstone in the effort to reclaim the channel that is the local home of Yankees, the NBA’s Brooklyn Nets and Major League Soccer’s New York City Football Club.
Other bidders in the hunt for the Fox channels include Sinclair Broadcast Group and Tegna, and private equity players Apollo and KKR, per CNBC.
