Yankee Global Enterprises LLC
Encyclopedia
Yankee Global Enterprises LLC (Yankee Global) was formed in 1999, and is the owner of the New York Yankees
baseball
club and the YES Network
cable channel. It was originally created through a merger between the Yankees and the New Jersey Nets
basketball team, known at the time as YankeeNets. Yankee Global Enterprises is controlled by the Steinbrenner
family.
, the Yankees had their most successful season in modern history, winning a combined total of 125 regular season and playoff games, culminating in a World Series
championship. The team was in discussions to be sold to Cablevision, who at the time owned the broadcast rights to every MLB
, NBA
and NHL
team in the New York City
Metropolitan area. The proposed deal fell through because the two sides could not come to an agreement that would include George Steinbrenner
continuing to run the team for the new owners.
to Cablevision fell through, the Yankees and Nets agreed to merge business operations, creating a combined holding company. This was done to increase the negotiating power of both teams for future television contracts and stadium and arena construction deals. The pre-merger owners would continue to control their teams, with a minority interest in the other team. This arrangement was approved by both Major League Baseball and the NBA.
football team and the British football powerhouse Manchester United, which resulted in exclusive Giants and Manchester United programming on the YES Network
for a period of time.
ice hockey
team, to have relationships in all major league professional sports, and to give better leverage to the Nets in constructing the Prudential Center in Newark. The Devils were was later sold in 2004 to minority share holder of Puck Holdings Jeffrey Vanderbeek
.
New York affiliate. They also spoke to other cable companies, including Time Warner
about launching a new network with them. In the end, YankeeNets decided to pair with Goldman Sachs
to launch their own regional sports network. The YES Network
launched in March 2002, in preparation of the upcoming baseball season. Cablevision, after losing out on the broadcast rights, did not reach an agreement with YES for carriage on its system during the network's first year. The two sides did reach a temporary agreement in 2003, and a long-term deal about a year later.
, who intended to move the team to an arena in Brooklyn, New York, and the Devils being sold to businessman Jeffrey Vanderbeek
, who moved the franchise to the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey
as was originally proposed by the previous Nets ownership. The Nets sale did not include the team's stake in the YES Network, which remained with the pre-merger owners. Since the breakup, the Devils also extended their television contract with Cablevision, ending the speculation that they would move to YES once their initial contract expired after the 2006-07 hockey season.
The legacy of YankeeNets is the YES Network
, which allowed both the Yankees
and Nets
to dramatically increase their revenues. This allowed the Yankees to front the $800 million to construct their new Yankee Stadium
.
said in an interview with Bloomberg
radio, that the team is losing money, due to Major League Baseball's luxury tax. http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=2557770 It is unknown if the entity that is losing money is Yankee Global, or just the ballclub. After barely breaking even in 2002, the YES Network has been successful in generating revenue. Most of that revenue is believed to go directly to the Yankees, but sales figures for the combined entity are unknown.
, owner of WCBS-AM (the team's flagship station), had been looking to drop its MLB broadcasts ever since the league simulcasted local games on XM Satellite Radio
, which does not compensate local stations. However, the initial Yankees/WCBS deal—ending after the 2006 season—was extended that same year and the games will continue to be broadcast on the station for the near future. CBS Radio also renewed the rights to the crosstown New York Mets
via WFAN
and some other teams during the 2006-07 period.
creates. Since the team will again have ownership of their stadium, the Yankees have also created a company to handle the concessions in new Yankee Stadium
.
New York Yankees
The New York Yankees are a professional baseball team based in the The Bronx, New York. They compete in Major League Baseball in the American League's East Division...
baseball
Baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...
club and the YES Network
YES Network
The Yankees Entertainment and Sports Network is a New York City-based, regional cable television channel; it broadcasts a variety of sports events, with an emphasis on New York Yankees baseball games, and New Jersey Nets basketball games. YES made its debut on March 19, 2002...
cable channel. It was originally created through a merger between the Yankees and the New Jersey Nets
New Jersey Nets
The New Jersey Nets are a professional basketball team based in Newark, New Jersey. They are members of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference in the National Basketball Association...
basketball team, known at the time as YankeeNets. Yankee Global Enterprises is controlled by the Steinbrenner
George Steinbrenner
George Michael Steinbrenner III was an American businessman who was the principal owner and managing partner of Major League Baseball's New York Yankees. During Steinbrenner's 37-year ownership from 1973 to his death in July 2010, the longest in club history, the Yankees earned seven World Series...
family.
Prior to YankeeNets
In 19981998 in baseball
-Headline events of the year:*Mark McGwire, Sammy Sosa, Ken Griffey, Jr., and Greg Vaughn all hit 30 home runs before the All-Star break and engage in a historic chase for Roger Maris's single-season record of 61 home runs...
, the Yankees had their most successful season in modern history, winning a combined total of 125 regular season and playoff games, culminating in a World Series
1998 World Series
The 1998 World Series, the 94th edition of Major League Baseball's championship series, matched the New York Yankees against the San Diego Padres . The Yankees swept the Series in four games to capture their second championship in three years, and their 24th overall...
championship. The team was in discussions to be sold to Cablevision, who at the time owned the broadcast rights to every MLB
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball is the highest level of professional baseball in the United States and Canada, consisting of teams that play in the National League and the American League...
, NBA
National Basketball Association
The National Basketball Association is the pre-eminent men's professional basketball league in North America. It consists of thirty franchised member clubs, of which twenty-nine are located in the United States and one in Canada...
and NHL
National Hockey League
The National Hockey League is an unincorporated not-for-profit association which operates a major professional ice hockey league of 30 franchised member clubs, of which 7 are currently located in Canada and 23 in the United States...
team in the New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
Metropolitan area. The proposed deal fell through because the two sides could not come to an agreement that would include George Steinbrenner
George Steinbrenner
George Michael Steinbrenner III was an American businessman who was the principal owner and managing partner of Major League Baseball's New York Yankees. During Steinbrenner's 37-year ownership from 1973 to his death in July 2010, the longest in club history, the Yankees earned seven World Series...
continuing to run the team for the new owners.
Merger with the Nets
After the proposed sale of the New York YankeesNew York Yankees
The New York Yankees are a professional baseball team based in the The Bronx, New York. They compete in Major League Baseball in the American League's East Division...
to Cablevision fell through, the Yankees and Nets agreed to merge business operations, creating a combined holding company. This was done to increase the negotiating power of both teams for future television contracts and stadium and arena construction deals. The pre-merger owners would continue to control their teams, with a minority interest in the other team. This arrangement was approved by both Major League Baseball and the NBA.
Marketing agreements
YankeeNets engaged in marketing agreements with the New York GiantsNew York Giants
The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in East Rutherford, New Jersey, representing the New York City metropolitan area. The Giants are currently members of the Eastern Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League...
football team and the British football powerhouse Manchester United, which resulted in exclusive Giants and Manchester United programming on the YES Network
YES Network
The Yankees Entertainment and Sports Network is a New York City-based, regional cable television channel; it broadcasts a variety of sports events, with an emphasis on New York Yankees baseball games, and New Jersey Nets basketball games. YES made its debut on March 19, 2002...
for a period of time.
Acquisition of the Devils
YankeeNets created an affiliate, Puck Holdings, which purchased the New Jersey DevilsNew Jersey Devils
The New Jersey Devils are a professional ice hockey team based in Newark, New Jersey, United States. They are members of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League...
ice hockey
Ice hockey
Ice hockey, often referred to as hockey, is a team sport played on ice, in which skaters use wooden or composite sticks to shoot a hard rubber puck into their opponent's net. The game is played between two teams of six players each. Five members of each team skate up and down the ice trying to take...
team, to have relationships in all major league professional sports, and to give better leverage to the Nets in constructing the Prudential Center in Newark. The Devils were was later sold in 2004 to minority share holder of Puck Holdings Jeffrey Vanderbeek
Jeffrey Vanderbeek
Jeffrey Vanderbeek is the owner of the New Jersey Devils, a professional ice hockey team in the National Hockey League. Vanderbeek, a New Jersey native and Devils season ticket holder since the late 1980s, became a minority owner when Puck Holdings, an affiliate of YankeeNets, purchased the team in...
.
Broadcast negotiations
With the Yankees' television contract with Cablevision expiring in 2001 and the Nets' contract expiring after the 2001-2002 season, the teams negotiated together with potential cable partners for the next contract. They spoke to Cablevision about remaining on their networks, or creating a new network with them. Cablevision offered to pair both teams on their Fox Sports NetFox Sports Net
The Fox Sports Regional Networks, or simply Fox Sports Net , are a collection of cable TV regional sports networks in the United States owned and operated by News Corporation.- Beginnings :...
New York affiliate. They also spoke to other cable companies, including Time Warner
Time Warner
Time Warner is one of the world's largest media companies, headquartered in the Time Warner Center in New York City. Formerly two separate companies, Warner Communications, Inc...
about launching a new network with them. In the end, YankeeNets decided to pair with Goldman Sachs
Goldman Sachs
The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. is an American multinational bulge bracket investment banking and securities firm that engages in global investment banking, securities, investment management, and other financial services primarily with institutional clients...
to launch their own regional sports network. The YES Network
YES Network
The Yankees Entertainment and Sports Network is a New York City-based, regional cable television channel; it broadcasts a variety of sports events, with an emphasis on New York Yankees baseball games, and New Jersey Nets basketball games. YES made its debut on March 19, 2002...
launched in March 2002, in preparation of the upcoming baseball season. Cablevision, after losing out on the broadcast rights, did not reach an agreement with YES for carriage on its system during the network's first year. The two sides did reach a temporary agreement in 2003, and a long-term deal about a year later.
The breakup of YankeeNets
In 2003, reports leaked that the Yankees and Nets sides of the organization were in disagreement with each other. The Yankee ownership in Tampa did not want any part in paying for an arena for the Nets and Devils, as the teams were money-losers. This led to the Nets being sold to Bruce RatnerBruce Ratner
Bruce Ratner is an American real estate developer and is a current minority owner of the NBA's New Jersey Nets...
, who intended to move the team to an arena in Brooklyn, New York, and the Devils being sold to businessman Jeffrey Vanderbeek
Jeffrey Vanderbeek
Jeffrey Vanderbeek is the owner of the New Jersey Devils, a professional ice hockey team in the National Hockey League. Vanderbeek, a New Jersey native and Devils season ticket holder since the late 1980s, became a minority owner when Puck Holdings, an affiliate of YankeeNets, purchased the team in...
, who moved the franchise to the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey
Newark, New Jersey
Newark is the largest city in the American state of New Jersey, and the seat of Essex County. As of the 2010 United States Census, Newark had a population of 277,140, maintaining its status as the largest municipality in New Jersey. It is the 68th largest city in the U.S...
as was originally proposed by the previous Nets ownership. The Nets sale did not include the team's stake in the YES Network, which remained with the pre-merger owners. Since the breakup, the Devils also extended their television contract with Cablevision, ending the speculation that they would move to YES once their initial contract expired after the 2006-07 hockey season.
The legacy of YankeeNets is the YES Network
YES Network
The Yankees Entertainment and Sports Network is a New York City-based, regional cable television channel; it broadcasts a variety of sports events, with an emphasis on New York Yankees baseball games, and New Jersey Nets basketball games. YES made its debut on March 19, 2002...
, which allowed both the Yankees
New York Yankees
The New York Yankees are a professional baseball team based in the The Bronx, New York. They compete in Major League Baseball in the American League's East Division...
and Nets
New Jersey Nets
The New Jersey Nets are a professional basketball team based in Newark, New Jersey. They are members of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference in the National Basketball Association...
to dramatically increase their revenues. This allowed the Yankees to front the $800 million to construct their new Yankee Stadium
Yankee Stadium
Yankee Stadium was a stadium located in The Bronx in New York City, New York. It was the home ballpark of the New York Yankees from 1923 to 1973 and from 1976 to 2008. The stadium hosted 6,581 Yankees regular season home games during its 85-year history. It was also the former home of the New York...
.
Name change
In 2004, with the exodus of the Nets and Devils complete, the company changed its name to Yankee Global Enterprises LLC, keeping the Yankees and the YES Network as separate entities owned by the same company.Money-losing controversy
In August 2006, Yankees general manager Brian CashmanBrian Cashman
Brian McGuire Cashman is an American Major League Baseball executive for the New York Yankees.-Early life:Cashman was born in Rockville Centre, New York and raised in Washingtonville, New York. He was raised in an Irish Catholic family. He moved with his family to Lexington, Kentucky, where his...
said in an interview with Bloomberg
Bloomberg L.P.
Bloomberg L.P. is an American privately held financial software, media, and data company. Bloomberg makes up one third of the $16 billion global financial data market with estimated revenue of $6.9 billion. Bloomberg L.P...
radio, that the team is losing money, due to Major League Baseball's luxury tax. http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=2557770 It is unknown if the entity that is losing money is Yankee Global, or just the ballclub. After barely breaking even in 2002, the YES Network has been successful in generating revenue. Most of that revenue is believed to go directly to the Yankees, but sales figures for the combined entity are unknown.
The future
There had been reports that Yankee Global was interested in purchasing all or part of an AM radio station to broadcast the Yankees' games. CBS RadioCBS Radio
CBS Radio, Inc., formerly known as Infinity Broadcasting Corporation, is one of the largest owners and operators of radio stations in the United States, third behind main rival Clear Channel Communications and Cumulus Media. CBS Radio owns around 130 radio stations across the country...
, owner of WCBS-AM (the team's flagship station), had been looking to drop its MLB broadcasts ever since the league simulcasted local games on XM Satellite Radio
XM Satellite Radio
XM Satellite Radio is one of two satellite radio services in the United States and Canada, operated by Sirius XM Radio. It provides pay-for-service radio, analogous to cable television. Its service includes 73 different music channels, 39 news, sports, talk and entertainment channels, 21 regional...
, which does not compensate local stations. However, the initial Yankees/WCBS deal—ending after the 2006 season—was extended that same year and the games will continue to be broadcast on the station for the near future. CBS Radio also renewed the rights to the crosstown New York Mets
New York Mets
The New York Mets are a professional baseball team based in the borough of Queens in New York City, New York. They belong to Major League Baseball's National League East Division. One of baseball's first expansion teams, the Mets were founded in 1962 to replace New York's departed National League...
via WFAN
WFAN
WFAN , also known as "Sports Radio 66" or "The FAN", is a radio station in New York City. The station broadcasts on a clear channel and is owned by CBS Radio...
and some other teams during the 2006-07 period.
New Yankee Stadium
The Yankees are mostly financing the new Yankee Stadium by revenues the YES NetworkYES Network
The Yankees Entertainment and Sports Network is a New York City-based, regional cable television channel; it broadcasts a variety of sports events, with an emphasis on New York Yankees baseball games, and New Jersey Nets basketball games. YES made its debut on March 19, 2002...
creates. Since the team will again have ownership of their stadium, the Yankees have also created a company to handle the concessions in new Yankee Stadium
Yankee Stadium
Yankee Stadium was a stadium located in The Bronx in New York City, New York. It was the home ballpark of the New York Yankees from 1923 to 1973 and from 1976 to 2008. The stadium hosted 6,581 Yankees regular season home games during its 85-year history. It was also the former home of the New York...
.
See also
- George SteinbrennerGeorge SteinbrennerGeorge Michael Steinbrenner III was an American businessman who was the principal owner and managing partner of Major League Baseball's New York Yankees. During Steinbrenner's 37-year ownership from 1973 to his death in July 2010, the longest in club history, the Yankees earned seven World Series...
- Hank SteinbrennerHank SteinbrennerHenry G. "Hank" Steinbrenner III is the part-owner and Senior Vice President of the New York Yankees, along with his brother Hal Steinbrenner....
- Hal SteinbrennerHal SteinbrennerHarold Z. Steinbrenner, known as Hal, is part owner of the New York Yankees with his brother Hank Steinbrenner, the co-chairperson, and a general partner for the Yankees...
- YES NetworkYES NetworkThe Yankees Entertainment and Sports Network is a New York City-based, regional cable television channel; it broadcasts a variety of sports events, with an emphasis on New York Yankees baseball games, and New Jersey Nets basketball games. YES made its debut on March 19, 2002...
- New York YankeesNew York YankeesThe New York Yankees are a professional baseball team based in the The Bronx, New York. They compete in Major League Baseball in the American League's East Division...
- New Jersey NetsNew Jersey NetsThe New Jersey Nets are a professional basketball team based in Newark, New Jersey. They are members of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference in the National Basketball Association...
- Manchester United