Welp, this is interesting. Note that the Astros were "surprised" by this. Sure sounds like other members on the board of directors want to undo the "unanimous consent" required to strike a carriage deal. Between the rumors we've heard so far and the Astros apparently being in the dark on this, are the other 3 trying to override Crane? http://blog.chron.com/sportsupdate/...filed-on-behalf-of-comcast-sportsnet-houston/
Possibly...but how does bankruptcy allow them to wrest control from the Astros? Do the creditors get to appoint new directors or something?
Maybe they'll restructure to where they only need 3 of the 4 directors to agree. The 2 NBC/UNIVERSAL execs and the Rockets. We've been hearing all along that the Astros are the holdup. Maybe there's some truth there.
On the other hand, if the point of this is to take control from one party, there could be lawsuits and stuff. This could get a lot messier before it gets resolved.
WOW, this is BIG BIG news. Yes, I would say that Crane has been the guy holding everything up and the others are now taking extreme measures to get something resolved. However, Crane doesn't seem like the kind of guy that is going to just cave in without putting up a big fight. I didn't think there was any chance something could happen before the season started, but now I'm not so sure.
I'm just glad the status quo might be changing in some way, especially if it's at the expense of jerkhead extraordinaire, Jim Crane.
It actually looks like the OPPOSITE from what I originally thought. Here's the statement from the Astros: http://mlblogsraymond.mlblogs.com/2013/09/27/astros-tv-situation/ It sounds like the Astros were about to pull the plug themselves, but didn't want to deal with a messy legal dispute during their season. Meanwhile, Comcast is filing for bankruptcy in order to protect themselves from the Astros seeking July/August/September payments. I don't know this, of course, but typically bankruptcy is used to protect the status quo, not to shake things up. It now seems like the Astros (and perhaps the Rockets too -- note they didn't comment) are on the verge of cutting ties with Comcast. That's the most logical thing I can conclude based on the information we have.
So Comcast is obligated to pay the Astros (and presumably the Rockets) no matter what. I wonder what they were thinking going in like this on a 100-loss Astros team and those Rockets teams that nobody cared about (don't look at me, I loved those guys).
We'll see how this develops but, if I remember correctly, there is some precedence in chapter 11 being used by partners to fight over control of a partnership.
It's exactly the opposite. The bankruptcy court can order all sorts of things regarding the ongoing operations. This is going to be a long, messy fight every step of the way unless the parties resolve their disputes. This could have been done to force everybody to the table. Keep in mind that they are all losing tons of money right now.
It sounds to me they were using the rights fees as leverage by withholding them to have Crane agree to something but it wasn't working so they're resorting to this.
That would be my guess. Comcast wanted something from Crane, he wasn't relenting and planned to go over their heads and terminate the agreement altogether, and this is their last-ditch effort to try and protect the network. I'll clarify my earlier remarks -- certainly NBC/Comcast want changes within the operations and structure. But they're protecting the status quo in the broad sense of CSN Houston with the Astros/Rockets as primary tenants, something that Crane seemed on the verge of terminating. How quickly do bankruptcy courts usually operate? I've covered a couple of cases in the oil/gas world that moved rather expeditiously (6 weeks to 2 months), but I know that's a very small sample size. Are there some that take much longer? Because it's rather unfortunate timing for the Rockets... the window to strike a deal is right before a highly-anticipated season begins (note LHN and UVerse/Time Warner the past two Augusts), and I imagine any carriage negotiations are now on hold until the court makes its next move.
Somewhere this morning I read the Astros collected $70 million from MLB, not including any local money. I assume Comcast is pissed they are losing money while Crane is making money.
