Kings’ Move to Hurt Lakers’ New TV Deal?

The Kings’ move from Sacramento into Anaheim is already unpopular within the Laker locker room, and according to ESPN, it may also be a cause for consternation within the accountants’ office, too: “Last month the Lakers agreed to an unprecedented 20-year television agreement with Time Warner Cable to distribute Lakers games and original programming across two regional sports networks in HD that will include the nation’s first Spanish-language regional sports network. Although finances of the deal were not released, some reports at the time pegged the value of the pact at $3 billion, a figure Time Warner Cable and the Lakers have since refuted. If a third NBA team moves into the market, however, the Lakers’ television deal will decrease by about just under 10 percent, according to sources. The Lakers’ agreement, which begins with the 2012-13 season and covers all preseason, regular-season and postseason games not nationally telecast, was viewed as a major blow for current rights holders Fox Sports West and KCAL-TV. The Kings, however, could lessen that blow and create competition for viewers and fans in Orange County if they filled the void left by the Lakers on both outlets.”