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Time Warner Cable will get name on arena; games on Fox Sports Net
The Charlotte Bobcats are moving their games to Fox Sports Net -- tripling the team's television exposure in the Carolinas -- and have agreed to rename their home court Time Warner Cable Arena in a deal announced this morning.
Most Bobcats games had been aired on the News 14 Carolina channel -- available only on Time Warner Cable, not other cable systems or satellite networks. Starting tonight, the team said in a statement, games will be on Fox Sports Net South, available in three times as many Carolinas homes through various cable and satellite systems.
The Bobcats said the deal caps 15 months of negotiations and are the first example of a pro sports franchise executing arena naming rights and TV rights deals simultaneously.
Bobcats games have aired on News 14 Carolina since the team's regional sports network, C-SET, folded in 2005. Now available in about 1.2 million cable households, Bobcats games would be available in about 3.8 million households through Fox Sports Net South, a television industry source said.
Fox Sports Net South will carry 70 games each season starting with the 2008-09 season, the Bobcats said. Other games air in Charlotte on WMYT Channel 12, available on all cable and satellite systems.
Instead of televising games, Time Warner Cable will get its name on the arena, as well as on signs and the court inside the building, the Bobcats said. The company also will get a dedicated concourse gallery where it can display programming and products.
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