New Fox, a subsidiary of the recently slimmed down 21st Century Fox, has confirmed it has no plans to attempt to buy back the 22 regional sports networks it sold to Disney in the $71.3 billion deal for the company’s entertainment assets. The revelation was made in an 8-K filing with the Securities and Exchanges Commission.
In connection with these preliminary discussions, Fox confirms that it does not intend to bid for any of the Fox regional sports networks that Disney (or any entity operating on its behalf) may sell as required by the consent decree with the U.S. Department of Justice.
The popular thinking was that New Fox, which is run by News Corp founder Rupert Murdoch’s son Lachlan, would enter the second round of bidding for the RSNs to strengthen the company’s live sports inventory. Right now, New Fox has play-by-play rights to MLB, NFL, and MLS games through the Fox Network, FS1 and FS2. It will also enter business with the WWE later this year.
