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A Sports Team Owning a TV Station?


newsteam13

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Something intriguing has caught my attention. A major league sports franchise owning a TV station, that is.

 

Rupert Murdoch sold WFXT FOX25 to the Boston Celtics in 1989. The New York Times article talks about the transaction (CLICK HERE). However in 1995, FOX regained control of WFXT. That would change in 2014, when Murdoch traded WFXT and WHBQ Memphis for COX stations in San Francisco KTVU and KICU.

 

I didn't know an NBA team owned a FOX affiliate. I didn't know another FOX affiliate was owned by an NFL and another NBA team, either.

 

Tom Benson, who both owns the New Orleans Saints (NFL) and the New Orleans Pelicans (NBA), owned WVUE FOX8 from 2008 until 2017. CLICK HERE for the ESPN article.

 

Sports teams owning television stations...That's Really Somethin'

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I've been told that the Jays and Sportsnet are in the same division of Rogers Communications (which must've meant their media division had amazing years in the 2015 and 2016 fiscal years, haha).

 

The owners of the Angels also own their flagship radio station, KLAA - licensed to Orange, California with an ESPN Radio affiliation.

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Wnen the Saint Louis Cardinals switched radio broadcasters in the late aughts, the Cardinals invested into the station with 50% ownership. They soon reduced that and a few years later Cardinal broadcasts returned to their heritage radio station. The most successful example of a station owning a station, albeit cable, is when the Yankees started YES. Rumors are that when Fox/Disney divests it, Yankees may buy back the controlling interest.

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I'm surprised no one has mentioned the Atlanta Braves/WTBS, the Chicago Cubs/WGN-AM-TV, and the California Angels/KTLA and KMPC and later KCAL-TV. But those situations were different as they were under larger corporate umbrellas (Turner, Tribune Co., Golden West and Disney, respectively).

 

As far as a team directly owning a broadcast station, I can only think of the aforementioned Angels/KLAA and Cardinals/part of KTRS combos. There was also the Polhad family which owns the Minnesota Twins and an FM in the Twin Cities that was the Twins' flagship for a while, though that is no longer the case as the team has moved back (wisely) to WCCO.

 

FWIW, the Boston Celtics also owned WEEI (AM) for a time, alongside WFXT.

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I'm surprised no one has mentioned the Atlanta Braves/WTBS, the Chicago Cubs/WGN-AM-TV, and the California Angels/KTLA and KMPC, but those situations were different as they were under larger corporate umbrellas (Turner, Tribune Co. and Golden West, respectively).

 

As far as a team directly owning a broadcast station, I can only think of the aforementioned Angels/KLAA and Cardinals/part of KTRS combos. There was also the Polhad family which owns the Minnesota Twins and an FM in the Twin Cities that was the Twins' flagship for a while, though that is no longer the case as the team has moved back (wisely) to WCCO.

 

FWIW, the Boston Celtics also owned WEEI (AM) for a time, alongside WFXT.

 

yea i remember those as well. in fact theres also KMAX/KNTV/KNBR (AM) for SF Giants, KQCA/KTVU for Oakland Raiders and KOVR/KPIX for 49ers although CBS stopped airing 49ers as a simulcast from KPIX but instead from CBS themselves.

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I remember when KXTV was a Sacramento Kings Station due to Tegna Owning the broadcasting rights from maloof.

 

That's a completely different thing. Owning the broadcasting rights is not the same as owning the team itself.

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yea i remember those as well. in fact theres also KMAX/KNTV/KNBR (AM) for SF Giants, KQCA/KTVU for Oakland Raiders and KOVR/KPIX for 49ers although CBS stopped airing 49ers as a simulcast from KPIX but instead from CBS themselves.

That's not what we're talking about. Please read the title of the thread carefully before you post.

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How bout a team owner owning an entire network? Comcast owns the Philadelphia Flyers and NBC.

 

The now-defunct PASS network was owned by another former Tigers owner, Tom Mohagan, until 1992, when he sold PASS to Post-Newsweek (which already owned WDIV) and the Tigers to the Illitch family (who already owned the Detroit Red Wings and Little Caesar's) to focus on his then-ownership of Domino's Pizza.

 

Didn't he also own WWTV & WWUP at one time as well?

 

Yes.

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NESN is 80% Red Sox and 20% Bruins.

NBC Sports Boston is 20% Celtics.

 

I know its not 100% on each, but still...

Don't forget the Mariners owning the majority of Root Sports with AT&T the balance. I'd call it Root Sports NW but I think we can retire that suffix now.

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