Though I’m fully aware the Lords Of Baseball would just as soon hand over TV rights to the Oxygen Channel if there was enough up front dough involved, Maury Brown provides little hope that the era of Scooter, Zelasko (shown above, communicating with her space alien commanders), Kennedy and Joe Fucking Buck might come to an end this October. (link swiped from Repoz and Baseball Think Factory)

Where MLB may have slipped is by letting deals by NASCAR, the FiFA World Cup, and the NFL to get completed with the major networks before getting their deal in. It may be a case of when MLB went there, the cupboard was bare. Since MLB™s exclusive negotiating window lapse at the end of December with Fox they have talked with NBC and ABC/ESPN. Neither jumped at the chance to land MLB™s content.

Which leads us back to Fox.

This last week, Fox said it was willing to let MLB walk. It has been reported that MLB is looking for a 20% hike over the current $417 million a year deal that MLB currently has with Fox. Fox sees that increase too high.

This maybe a case of Fox knowing they have MLB over a barrel. With options limited and time running out, Fox can bid its time and see if MLB will lower the 20% increase figure to something that Fox may see as more reasonable.