New York Times

From SoSH

In 1993, the New York Times company acquired The Boston Globe, the leading newspaper in the Boston area and owner of Boston.com.

In February 2002, NYT partnered with John Henry, paying $75 million for a 17% interest in New England Sports Ventures, the holding company for the Red Sox, Fenway Park, and the Sox 80% interest in NESN. Subsequently, nesn.com was merged with the sports section of boston.com. (note that the purchase price implies that approximately $440 million of the purchase was funded with equity, and the rest with debt.)

Since then, NESN has become the primary TV outlet for Boston Globe sportswriters, and the source of many conspiracy theories about preferential treatment for Globe journalists by the Sox, and vice-versa.

Links

NYT's 2002 10-K, as filed with the SEC, with a brief description of the transactions (search for "NESV").