Hollywood heavy hitter Harvey Weinstein is expected in the lineup when the board of the new regional sports network featuring the New York Yankees is unveiled, according to a source close to the situation.

The paperwork on the complex deal is still being processed, but those involved hoped to officially announce the new network Monday morning. Approval for the transfer of the Yankees' television rights by Major League Baseball has been granted.

Cable veteran Leo Hindery Jr. is expected to be president and CEO of the new venture.

A spokesman for Weinstein, co-chairman of Miramax Films, declined comment. A source was aware of Weinstein's interest in the venture but said he has yet to agree to join the board.

As part of the new venture, Weinstein's primary role will be to help the new network with entertainment programming. Live sports events are its bread and butter but 125 to 130 Yankees games and 75 Nets games can't fill 24 hours of programming seven days a week. Hindery has to convince cable operators that the new network will be worth watching even when the teams aren't playing. Defining the kind of entertainment the new network will offer is where Weinstein comes in.

The unnamed network will be owned by a new company. YankeeNets LLC is contributing the broadcast rights to the Yankees, the New Jersey Nets and the New Jersey Devils, and investment companies Goldman Sachs and the Quadrangle Group will buy 40% for an estimated $350 million.

In addition to Weinstein, there will also be two cable veterans on the board.

Amos Hostetter, who sits on the board of advisers to the Quadrangle Group, will be the nonexecutive chairman while Bill Bresnan ? related by marriage to Yankees GM Brian Cashman and by longtime friendship to Hindery ? will be on the board.

They should be able to help Hindery, former CEO of No. 1 MSO AT&T Broadband, with the network's primary challenge: getting distribution in the New York area at a time when cable operators are already up in arms over the high cost of sports programming.

Further complicating the situation, the new network is being built at the expense of the Madison Square Garden network co-owned by major New York cable operator Cablevision.

Cablevision took the hardest hit from Steinbrenner's decision to cut out the middleman and distribute his own product. That move took the Yankees off of MSG after a court battle that soured relations. The Yankees paid MSG $30 million to get out of the contract a year early.

Back to this issue