Sports becoming even more important for News Corp.

Tuesday, November 06, 2012 5:57 PM ET  By Sarah Barry James There is no question that sports is now a priority for News Corp. "In a world of increasing fragmentation and growing digital technologies, we believe key must-have content is more important than ever," News Corp. President and COO Chase Carey said during a Nov. 6 earnings conference call. He noted that the company recently finalized key agreements with both Major League Baseball and NASCAR that he said "will serve as the foundation for both our cable and broadcast businesses for years to come." In October, FOX Sports Media Group agreed to pay $4.2 billion in an eight-year deal for MLB rights that extends through 2021. And that same month, the group signed an eight-year extension with NASCAR that will take effect in 2015 and run through 2022. "I want to emphasize that we only make financial [commitments] where we are confident we can create real incremental value," Carey said of the deals. "And in a world that has more and more choices and more and more technologies, we think sports become ever increasingly valuable. So I think it gives us an opportunity really to build all our businesses across the channels." Reports have indicated that News Corp. is considering rebranding one of its networks to create a national sports cable network that could challenge ESPN. While Carey did not comment specifically on these rumors, he noted that internationally, the company has been able to launch Sky Sports News networks that have done quite well in the Europe. "The key rights we have acquired have certainly been an important part of building a platform like that," the executive said. "And I think as we look at Sky businesses, we think those sports have been critical to their growth, and continue to really deliver what we expect." He added, "Where we've had a chance to execute on that around the world, it's certainly, I think, very much delivering what we expected or more."