WSJ : Yankees In Talks With Amazon, Sinclair To Bid For YES Sports Network

(RTTNews) - The New York Yankees are in talks with Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN) and broadcaster Sinclair Broadcast Group Inc. (SBGI) about partnering to bid for the team's regional sports network YES, the Wall Street Journal reported citing people familiar with the matter.

The Yankee Entertainment and Sports Network LLC, which carries Yankee baseball and Brooklyn Nets basketball, is among the 21st Century Fox Inc. assets that Walt Disney Co. is required to sell for the government to approve its purchase of the majority of the company.

The Yankees own 20% of YES and have first dibs on acquiring the remaining 80%. The team has been talking to a variety of potential partners to purchase the network, for which Disney is seeking a valuation of $5 billion to $6 billion, the report said.

The talks are still in early stages and a partnership with either Amazon or Sinclair isn't guaranteed, the report said.

The Yankees have also approached cable operator Altice USA which has systems in the New York City region, about joining the team's effort to acquire 80% of YES, the report said. Altice USA is a unit of Altice NV.