Never ending. Attorneys for Comcast served notice Thursday they will seek permission to appeal a critical decision in the Comcast SportsNet Houston bankruptcy case to the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. A hearing on the Comcast request will be held at 11:30 a.m. Friday before Bankruptcy Judge Marvin Isgur, who is presiding over the Chapter 11 case involving the Astros-Rockets-Comcast-owned network. Isgur said Wednesday he would if asked allow Comcast to appeal his decision that Comcast’s affiliation agreement to carry CSN Houston on its cable systems was rendered without value by the September 2013 bankruptcy petition and subsequent financial losses suffered by the network. The judge is scheduled Oct. 21 to continue a hearing on a plan that would take the network out of bankruptcy by selling it to AT&T and DirecTV, which would carry it on DirecTV and AT&T U-verse in addition to Comcast. The teams and Comcast would lose their equity in the channel, and 96 of 141 employees would be laid off. If Isgur certifies his decision for appeal, Comcast would have 30 days to appeal to the 5th Circuit, which would have the option to accept or decline to take the case. Lydia Protopapas with the Houston office of the law firm Winston & Strawn said if Comcast files an appeal before the scheduled Oct. 21 confirmation hearing, the hearing could be delayed if Comcast meets the standards for a stay. Those grounds include whether the lack of a stay would result in irreparable harm to Comcast, whether the potential harm to Comcast outweighs the potential harm to the teams, the likelihood of Comcast’s success on appeal and whether the public interest would benefit from a stay. http://blog.chron.com/sportsupdate/...to-appeal-judges-decision-in-bankruptcy-case/
Very good questions. I have never seen anything quite like this. I would think that they would have to appeal his findings of fact, which I believe would be heard de novo, but I could be wrong on that.
I agree. If Comcast appeals and gets a stay pending appeal, it will be months before the confirmation hearing can be conducted.
How would they show irreparable harm? This decision is over money -- how much Comcast is to be repaid from that loan. If the judge got it wrong, they can still be compensated by the teams otherwise it seems. All of my thoughts on this are a guess really...I'm asking, not informing. And my assumption is that if this is going to the 5th circuit (as opposed to District Court) then it has to be an issue of law and not fact right? Which would mean no "trial" de novo.
I knew getting this resolved before the season started wasn't going to happen. Is anyone actually surprised? Looks like it'll be my 3rd year in a row of not watching Rocket games.
Umm, an appeal to the 5th Circuit could easily take a year to conclude, so this would mean not only the Rockets season, but also the next Astros season, would only be available on Comcast.
This is such a narrow issue, though...I have zero experience with appeals of bankruptcy decisions, but it seems to me that's unlikely that this appeal would be that long. And what sort of bond would Comcast have to post? I assume, they'd have to cover, at least, the media rights fees that the teams would have otherwise earned with ATT/DirecTV during the time it takes for the appeal to be ruled on.
Fifth Circuit doesn't queue up the appeals by complexity. We're already in mid-October. I don't see briefs being filed until January, probably the last briefs will be filed in March. Even if things move super fast, I don't think a decision would come out before April (although I'm expecting a late summer/early fall decision). Then the mandate comes down 30 days later, I believe, to give the parties time to go to the Supreme Court or ask for en banc consideration. Then you start the process from where it left off in the bankruptcy court. More interesting question is whether Isgur stays the proceedings pending the appeal.
Judge may delay start of new network to Oct. 29 to give Comcast appeal time The actual switch of Comcast SportsNet Houston to Root Sports Houston, if approved by a bankruptcy judge, may not take place until hours before the network’s first available Rockets game Oct. 29, under scenarios discussed Friday by attorneys in the CSN Houston bankruptcy case. Bankruptcy Judge Marvin Isgur is scheduled to rule Oct. 21 whether to approve a Chapter 11 reorganization plan selling the Astros-Rockets-Comcast-owned CSN Houston to DirecTV and AT&T, who would rebrand it as Root Sports Houston and add carriage on DirecTV and U-verse. However, since Isgur wants to preserve the appeal rights of Comcast, which opposes the sale to DirecTV and AT&T, he said full control of the channel might not be handed to the new owners until noon Oct. 28, 32 hours prior to the Oct. 29 Rockets-Jazz game. The Rockets’ Oct. 28 opener against the Lakers will air exclusively on TNT, so the Oct. 29 game is the first available for a local broadcast. While they would lack full control of the channel, the new owners would be able to begin work on the transition from CSN Houston to Root Sports Houston after Oct. 21 if the judge approves the sale. Isgur said his intent in delaying the effective closing of the network transfer was to preserve the rights and pocketbooks of both parties. “I’m pretty sympathetic to (Comcast’s) desire to be sure their appeal is not emasculated, and I’m also pretty sympathetic to the statement … that a delay (in launching the new network) may cost as much as a million dollars a day in this case,” Isgur said. “If I allow this to close at noon on the 28th, I don’t know that I’m hurting anyone, and I’m giving them an appellate opportunity.” The judge also added, “I’m not telling (Comcast) I will deny a motion for more time in the form of a motion for a stay pending appeal.” Friday’s hearing originally was called for Comcast to request clearance to appeal one element of the CSN Houston confirmation discussion to the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Comcast attorney Craig Goldblatt said Comcast does intend to appeal but was uncertain when the appeal could be filed. Rockets attorney Alan Gover said the Rockets and Astros oppose certifying a decision Isgur made this week that went against Comcast for appeal. “There is nothing about this case which cries out for immediate consideration by the court of appeals,” Gover said. Isgur did not rule on the Comcast request and asked attorneys to discuss plans for a “workable and organized framework” that will meet the needs of both sides. He also said, while not commenting on the prospects for an appeal by Comcast, that the chances of the 5th Circuit issuing a stay in the case were “reasonably low.” If Isgur approves the sale of CSN Houston’s parent company, Houston Regional Sports Network, to AT&T and DirecTV, several hundred thousand households across the Houston area would have access to Rockets and Astros games they have been unable through their providers on CSN Houston. Games also would continue to air on Comcast cable.
I do like that the judge said the chances of a stay are "reasonably low". This looks like it's going to go right up until the Rockets start the season. I still get the feeling it's done by game 2 of the Rockets regular season
Comcast is being divested of their ownership interest and millions in debt. That is irreparable if the judge got it wrong. It isn't as simple as finding another avenue for compensation. If the plan is confirmed, the terms of the plan are the contract. If Comcast is treated unfairly by the terms of the plan, confirmation will make such treatment binding on all parties.
My understanding is the issue their appealing isn't about their ownership but about the $100 million loan. It's money...you don't generally see irreparable harm when it's money. And frankly they have a much better shot at getting that money back if the Astros and Rockets get on TV and start collecting media rights dollars from AT&T. I'm encouraged by Isgur's comment that he thought the stay was unlikely.
My understanding is that the ruling is that the carriage agreement with Comcast is of inconsequential value to the network. Most of the testimony this week was a battle of the experts in valuing the network. The ruling that the carriage agreement is of inconsequential value makes the teams' valuation more plausible...thus removing a significant impediment to plan confirmation.
You're right...that's exactly what it was about. Things are starting to run together. So ready for it to be over.
