Forget the $20-25 billion that Disney was expecting. The company received three second round bids for the package of regional sports networks it acquired from 21st Century Fox in the $71.3 billion deal the two companies made in 2018, and according to Bloomberg, those bids may be closer to $10 billion.
Sinclair Broadcast Group, Apollo Global Management, and Major League Baseball have been confirmed as bidders.
One potential factor in not being able to meet the expected price tag is that the package has shrunk. The $20-25 billion number is based on Disney selling all 22 RSNs together. With the Yankees interested in buying back controlling interest in YES, what Disney is receiving bids for is a package of 21 networks.
YES is valued at $4 billion according to Bloomberg. That means the package is still $6-8 billion short of expectations. That could be because Sinclair, Apollo, and MLB do not have other cable assets to package these networks with, like one-time rumored bidders Comcast and New Fox do, in order to command a higher carriage fee from cable and satellite providers.
Disney valued the 22 RSNs at $20-22 billion when it presented the $71.3 billion offer to Fox. It appears that when a sale does occur, as mandated by the US Department of Justice, the company will take a significant loss. No bid has been officially accepted yet, so that could change.
