Last August,
this Forbes article covered how much Comcast would pay the Houston Astros for the rights to broadcast their games on Comcast SportsNet Houston — about $80 million per year. Combined with other revenue and a minimalist $21 million player payroll, the Astros were on pace to rake in $99 million in profits in 2013, making the worst team in Major League Baseball — the Astros finished the 2013 season with a record of 51-111 — the most profitable team.
Astros team president Reid Ryan was
quick to deny the report, saying “There is no doubt that the numbers are wrong in the Forbes article.” This week, we found out just how wrong they were.
Comcast
filed a petition for involuntary Chapter 11 bankruptcy on behalf of CSN Houston this week, and network president Matt Hutchings
resigned from his position on Monday. In response to the petition, the Astros, who own a 46.384% share in the network, revealed that the network
did not pay the team any rights fees from July to September, and that the team has “invested additional money in order to keep the network viable through our season.” Astros owner Jim Crane has said
he will fight the bankruptcy petition in court. The hearing is scheduled for October 28.
