Will You Be Watching The Phillies On Fox Sports in 2016?
Maybe. Then again, remember who owns the tallest building on the city’s skyline? Comcast, that’s who. And while Comcast may be shipping its sports operations to Connecticut and the sweet, sweet tax advantages available to broadcast is that state, it still seems likely the hometown cable conglomerate will do its darndest to keep the hometown MLB team on its airwaves.
That said, Yahoo Sports thinks Fox Sports may make a bid for the Phillies broadcasting rights:
Comcast is a Philadelphia-based company. It does not want to lose the rights of the team that from 2009-11 ranked among the three highest local baseball broadcasts. Problem is, Fox Sports, which has scooped up local rights to about half of baseball, wants to further its grip on the sport in anticipation of Fox Sports 1, the all-day sports channel expected to launch in August.
“And they want Philadelphia,” one source with knowledge of Fox’s plans said. “They got the Yankees [by buying a share of the YES Network], which helps. They’re not going to have the Red Sox. They’re not going to have the Mets. They want another East Coast team.”
So, game on! Of course, one question remains unresolved:They could be in the early stages of ooneof their 20-year-rebuilding projects! But Phillies fans are nothing if not self-hating loyal, right?
