CBS Wants Some of Its Money Back After Taking a Bath on Baseball Deal

CBS Sports, which may have lost as much as $100 million in the first year of its major-league baseball contract, has asked baseball for some of its money back.

CBS Inc. said last month that it anticipated losses in the fourth quarter of 1990, due largely to the baseball contract, and now the network apparently wants Major League Baseball to help share the load.

“All I can say is we have had ongoing conversations with baseball on a number of issues, and until those discussions are concluded, I can’t tell you very much,” CBS Sports president Neal Pilson said today.

A spokesman for baseball, Rich Levin, said basically the same thing.

But a source close to the negotiations, who would comment only if he remained anonymous, confirmed that the network had asked for a rebate on its $1.06-billion, four-year deal.