from John Ourand of SportsBusiness Journal,

Fox will buy back the RSNs.

It seems obvious that Fox will wind up buying back its regional sports networks from Disney at a discount. Bidders have shied away, based in part on uncertainty in the RSN market from distribution (the Fox RSN carriage deals with three large distributors expire over the next two years) to digital (some deep-pocketed digital companies are scared by the fact that streaming rights are separate from linear TV rights). Plus, logistics are a problem:...

The NHL will split up its rights package.

The NHL’s media rights deal with NBC doesn’t expire until 2021 but look for the league to begin setting the table for the coming negotiations by pushing for new packages split among two or more networks. It’s too early to handicap who will get the package — that’s a prediction for next year’s column. But I expect NBC to have the biggest rights package that includes the Stanley Cup Final. Fox will be at the table, looking for prime-time content on its broadcast channel. ESPN has made it known that it wants to cut a deal. And Turner will be pitching a combined linear TV-streaming option with its cable channels and B/R Live. If I have to guess, I’d say that ESPN winds up with a second package of games for both linear TV and ESPN+.

more, not related to the NHL...