1. One of the investors is Steven A. Cohen, a hedge fund wizard. The others - in a rather striking development given the latest stated plan of the Mets’ owners - would be the team’s partners in the SNY cable network.
    Time Warner Cable and Comcast are nearing a plan to finance SNY’s purchase of four shares in the Mets, worth $80 million, said one person with knowledge of the plan who was not authorized to speak publicly.
    If the deal is completed, the Mets would appear to have buyers for the 10 shares they are selling.
    That means they will have much-needed cash to pay off their substantial debts. But it would be a slightly quirky way of doing it. The deal would mean 16 percent of the Mets would be owned by SNY. The Mets’ parent company, Sterling Equities, owns 70 percent of the network.

    NYT: Financial Relief for Mets May

    One way to view this (which would erroneously value the team at 0) is that Comcast and Time Warner are each buying back 5.6% of SNY from Sterling for $40M each. Clearly, the team, despite its financial struggles, has a monetary value, but its interesting to see Comcast & Time Warner buying back equity in SNY.

    February 3, 2012

  2. How Netflix is helping Hollywood ruin DVD rentals

    Frommer comes to the same conclusion regarding the new Netflix delays as I did on Friday. This can only be seen as trying to kill their own DVD business, which is profitable. Pretty questionable move.

    January 30, 2012

  3. Netflix deal with Warner Bros. includes delay in queues - latimes.com

    As someone who often adds movies to his queue while they are still in theaters, this is very troubling.  I will apparently not be able to add WB movies to my queue until 4 weeks after its DVD release.  In my opinion, this is a (albeit small) fundamental change to Netflix’s service.

    While the delays must have troubled them when the movie studios started the practice a few years ago, I wonder if Netflix now doesn’t mind after the statements Hastings made regarding not caring to grow the DVD business.  If Netflix loses DVD rental customers due to the delays, I get the impression that they won’t mind, which is disappointing.

    January 27, 2012
  4. …[A] successful effort by Kroenke to buy the Dodgers could be regarded as the first tangible step toward moving the Rams to Los Angeles.
    And here’s where things get even more interesting. If Kroenke owns the Dodgers and another team moves to Los Angeles, how would the NFL’s cross-ownership rules apply? Currently, an owner of an NFL team can own a non-football team in another market as long as there’s no NFL team in that market. If Kroenke buys a baseball team in Los Angeles, which would be permissible, and then an NFL team other than the one owned by Kroenke moves there, the situation could get dicey, to say the least.

    Kroenke could be making a bid for the Dodgers | ProFootballTalk

    Interesting question raised by Florio regarding cross-ownership rule application to Stan Kronke’s Dodgers bid.

    January 25, 2012
  5. 8. PHILADELPHIA
    Seattle’s expansion effort has gone so well that anything else isn’t the same by comparison, but the Union’s efforts have been sensational too. PPL Park is a great place to watch a soccer game, and the buzz around this team is real. Owner Jay Sugarman may not be very vocal, but CEO Nick Sakiewicz — long one of MLS’ top execs — makes up for it in a way that’s similar to AEG’s Tim Leiweke. On the soccer side, Philly has one of most promising youth development operations in the league. This is a team that’s going places.

    MLS team ambition Rankings - Grant Wahl - SI.com

    Interesting article by Grant Wahl to read as MLS training camps start in upcoming weeks. Not many know more about the league and its business ambitions than Wahl.

    January 25, 2012

  6. Li Ning Sells Convertible Bonds to 2 Investors - WSJ.com

    More bad news for Li Ning. Makes me wonder what would’ve happened if they had taken a more conservative approach to expansion and athlete endorsements (NBA players).

    January 20, 2012

  7. Ryan Seacrest, AEG & CAA Partner With Mark Cuban To Rebrand HDNet As Pop Culture Cable Network

    HDNet has had a lack of unique, first-run content and AEG lacked distribution for AXS. Interesting partnership. Ironic that two of the most successful and influential sports owners/ownership groups will be working together on a channel without much sports content other than the existing HDNet MMA & boxing coverage.

    Will be watching to see how the switch affects the programming.

    January 19, 2012