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METS.tv

The Mets have reportedly paid $54 million to get out of their current television contract with MSG and FSN. They will still be carried through the 2005 season, though the original contract had them on-air through 2011. This move vaults the Mets in a new direction, with the following possible destinations:

1) Start their own network, a la YES. This might be ideal, but it is an awful lot of work. The Mets have given themselves a year and a half to work on this, but you can't exactly snap your fingers and have a smooth-running cable network. As the Yankees found out, you have to secure advertising, additional programming to fill up the schedule, and broker deals with all of the cable and satellite networks to carry your network. The greatest challenge would be finding enough Mets-related programming to actually show on the network. The Yankees have a storybook history, rife with World Series championships, pennants, Hall of Famers, retired numbers, color barriers, and so on. The Mets would run out of programming after Day 1.

2) Team up with YES. Not very likely, but the Mets could opt to align themselves with the Yankees and YES. The Mets would gain partial ownership of the network, and would be carried on a separate channel with a different name (think MESS).

3) Team up with a media company to start a network. According to Newsday:

Co-ownership of a network with a media company such as Cablevision or Time Warner is a strong possibility.

"A joint venture would give you an edge in distribution and a leg up on cutting other deals," said one industry source.

4) Re-up with cablevision at an increased rate. Cablevision is paying the Mets around $45 million this season to broadcast their games, and the Mets could ask for $60 or more after 2005.

The benefits of starting their own network go beyond simply making more money. According to the Bergen Record:

Major League Baseball directs that one-third of local television revenues go into a revenue-sharing pool. But critics say team owners who control a broadcast network - the Yankees, Red Sox, Braves, and Cubs are among the examples - can get around the rule by artificially deflating the amount that a team "pays itself" for TV rights. The Yankees still list a $55 million payout for TV rights, for instance, even though the Yankees' TV revenues have increased dramatically since departing MSG.

So not only can you generate more revenue, thanks to a loophole teams are able to hold on to more of it instead of forking it over to the Pittsburgh Pirates of the world who direct approximately zero of it towards on-the-field talent. Lets hope that more revenue for the Mets will equal more money spent on development, scouting, as well as wise free agent acquisitions.