21st Century Fox Confirms Majority Stake Agreement for YES Network

21st Century Fox have completed the acquisition of a majority stake in the Yankees Entertainment and Sports Network (YES Network) following an agreement announced on January 24, check 2014.

The transaction raises 21st Century Fox’s ownership position in the regional sports network to 80 percent from the 49 percent it acquired in 2012. The remaining 20 percent continues to be held by Yankee Global Enterprises.

The YES Network delivers exclusive live local television coverage of New York Yankees baseball and Brooklyn Nets basketball, as well as other leading local and national sports-related programming.

As a result of the acquisition, the YES Network is now a consolidated entity of 21st Century Fox. President and Chief Executive Officer Tracy Dolgin remains in his role leading the network.

The network currently showcases live Yankees and Nets games to approximately 9 million households in the teams’ television territory in the New York area. Outside of the New York area, the YES Network also distributes a variety of national programming to millions of homes across the country.

Fox Sports Media Group is the nation’s leader in local regional sports programming, operating a leading array of 22 owned-and-operated U.S. regional sports networks, which collectively produce over 5,000 live local events each year and serve as the local TV homes to more than half of all MLB, NHL, and NBA teams.