Sports news: Ebersol resigns at NBC, Fox beats Cox for Padres broadcasts

Longtime NBC Sports Group Chairman Dick Ebersol has resigned, reportedly because of a contract dispute not whether new parent Comcast (Nasdaq: CMCSA) wants to bid on the 2012 Olympics or not.

Ebersol had been a strong proponent of Olympics programming, even though it lost money; a point which reportedly caused friction within the ranks of the old NBC and the new Comcast-based NBC management. Comcast doesn't like to lose money and has said it would closely monitor its investments in sports programming so the Olympics folks were a little antsy.

Not to worry, Comcast Chairman-CEO told Richard Carrion, the International Olympics Committee (IOC) TV rights negotiator. "He assured me they are 100 percent committed to the Olympics and the rights process," Carrion said.

In San Diego it appears that Fox is 100 percent committed to paying the Major League Baseball Padres between $25 million and $30 million a season for the next 20 seasons. This is a "sizable increase" over what Cox Communications paid to carry the team for the past 15 seasons, estimated at around $15 million, and could mean higher programming fees for Cox subscribers if the MSO picks up the Fox Sports Network Prime Ticket broadcasts.

It would also end the brouhaha between Cox and other pay TV providers in the area who have been unable to work out deals to show the games.

For more:
- Forbes.com has this story
- San Diego's North County Times has this story

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Cox playing hardball with AT&T in San Diego