AT&T plans to reduce its debt by $8 billion before the end of the year. Bloomberg News reports that selling off its four regional sports networks could be a part of that plan.
The group includes AT&T SportsNet Pittsburgh (home of the Pirates and Penguins), AT&T SportsNet Southwest (Home of the Houston Rockets and Astros), AT&T SportsNet Rocky Mountains (Home of the Utah Jazz, Vegas Golden Knights, and Colorado Rockies) and Root Sports Northwest (home of the Seattle Mariners). Bloomberg speculates that the 4 networks, if sold together, could generate $1 billion.
Sinclair Broadcast Group has emerged as a likely bidder for the RSNs. The company won an auction earlier this year that made it the new owner of Fox’s 20 RSNs that Disney had to divest in order to close on its purchase of 21st Century Fox’s entertainment assets. Sinclair will also launch a regional sports network in the Chicago market next year in conjunction with the Cubs called Marquee.
No formal bidding has started for the AT&T RSNs. The company has not even officially announced that they will sell the four networks. Spokespeople for both AT&T and Sinclair declined comment for the Bloomberg story.
