Liberty Media is now apparently bidding for the former Fox RSNs

F1 owner Liberty Media may bid to buy the FOX RSNs

The latest installment of As The RSNs Turn has provided yet more drama. Previously, the 22 Fox sports regional networks were acquired by Disney as part of their larger purchase of Fox assets, forced to be sold thanks to the Department of Justice, drew all sorts of supposed bidders, drew only a few actual bidders, and saw less bidders still and less dollars than projected in the second round. That second round (which also saw YES removed, with the Yankees reportedly planning to buy it back) had just three confirmed bidders for the 21-network package: local TV station owner Sinclair Broadcasting, private equity firm Apollo Global, and Major League Baseball (with a yet-to-be-determined partner). And now, as per a piece from CNBC’s David Faber, Sinclair and Apollo are apparently dropping out (except maybe not?), and Liberty Media (owner of F1, the Atlanta Braves and Sirius XM, amongst other things) is apparently joining the bidding. Here’s more from Faber:

Liberty Media has joined the bidding for the regional sports networks that Disney is trying to sell to finalize a deal with Twenty-First Century Fox, sources told CNBC.

Liberty and Major League Baseball have submitted bids in the auction.

…Sinclair Broadcast and the private equity firm Apollo, which had been looking to bid, are now said to be out of the process, though Sinclair may seek to join another bid.

Liberty Media definitely has the resources to pick up these networks, and they might be an interesting acquisition for them. The company doesn’t appear to currently have majority control of anything in the TV world, but they have significant experience there; they started as a spinoff of cable group TCI, were part of AT&T at one point, owned shares in Discovery and QVC, owned Starz and parts of DirecTV and Charter, and even owned a pair of broadcast stations in Wisconsin (thanks to an asset swap with CBS). And their ownership of the Braves presumably gives them a pretty good insight into the RSN world; Braves’ games are on Fox Sports South, one of the networks involved here, and many of these networks are pretty dependent on MLB programming. It’s a bit curious that Liberty wasn’t mentioned by many earlier in this process, as seemingly everyone with a pulse was rumored to be buying these at some point (with many not even making a bid), but they’re far from the strangest possible bidder. Andrew Bucholtz/AwfulAnnouncing

So Why would Liberty be interested?

Why would Liberty Media want FOX RSNs? We're not certain but it sounds like the are looking to expand their footprint in sports. The first half of the NASCAR season is broadcast on FOX and those ratings are always larger than NBC's ratings in the 2nd half of the season.

If Liberty is interested in someday buying NASCAR (rumor) or IndyCar (rumor) you want to make sure your sports properties get excellent coverage in the regional markets. What better way to ensure that than to own the regional networks and since FOX gets better ratings than NBC, if you buy NASCAR or IndyCar, you move all the content to FOX for better ratings and hence revenue.