Sinclair Grows Bigger

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While many believe that Sinclair is all but ruining local journalism, the company continues to grow.

When the FCC put a wrench into Sinclair’s plans to buy the Tribune stations, Sinclair continued to look for other ways to get bigger.

They did so by buying 21 local sports networks that used to belong to 21st Century Fox.

The regional sports networks and carried games from the Miami Heat to the Atlanta Braves.

The deal has been approved and those networks are are now owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group.

That means, Sinclair now owns exclusive local rights to 42 professional teams. The portfolio consists of 14 Major League Baseball teams, 16 National Basketball Association teams and 12 National Hockey League teams.

Sinclair has already signaled its interest in acquiring more RSNs, particularly the four that AT&T is expected to sell.

CEO Chris Ripley told The Wall Street Journal on Friday that the company would be “very interested in looking at those and filling out our regional sports network footprint.”

Sinclair is well known for their conservative slant and for running things on the cheap.

What does that mean for the sports nets?

Time will tell.

H/T New York Post