Warner Bros. Discovery wants to exit regional TV sports: WSJ
Warner Bros. Discovery Inc. (WBD) wants to stop running the business that oversees three regional sports TV channels that air games for professional teams in Colorado and Utah, as well as Pittsburgh and Houston, the Wall Street Journal reported on Friday. The Journal said an executive from that business told the sports teams that bankruptcy was an option for the business, and that "the business will not have sufficient cash to pay the upcoming rights fees," and that Warner Bros. Discovery "will not fund our shortfalls." "Unless we can reach a deal to transfer ownership of the network (and the attendant rights)" by March 31, "our only realistic option is to file for chapter 7 liquidation," the letter said, according to the Journal. "We find ourselves running out of time and options." The Journal said the letter proposed that the channels, which operate under the AT&T SportsNet brand name, "transfer ownership of the networks and programming rights to the teams for no purchase price consideration beyond a release by the teams of any future claims against the networks." Shares of Warner Bros. Discovery finished 1.1% lower on Friday.
-Bill Peters
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
February 24, 2023 17:29 ET (22:29 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2023 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.