The long-term TV deal with Fox Sports is expected to pay the Padres roughly $17 to $22 million per season. The team will receive advertising dollars from the network in exchange for allowing Fox Sports San Diego to broadcast its games exclusively.

Fox Sports Network has hired Senior Vice President of Fox Sports Ohio Henry Ford as president and general manager of the new network. It is currently in talks with the COX Communications Channel 4 studios — outside Petco Park — to use the station facilities.

The team’s previous deal with Cox Communications Channel 4 paid the Padres $11 million per season. Channel 4 San Diego, the Padres’ TV home for the past 15 seasons, confirmed April 21, 2011 that it would not retain the rights to broadcast Padres games in 2012.

Fox Sports San Diego will broadcast through all cable, satellite and telecommunication providers so that the games will be available to a wider audience. The Padres are expected to benefit from the broadcasting revenue earned through the larger audience. Prior to this deal, the Padres HAD been broadcasting through Cox Communication’s Channel 4, which was made available to Cox and Time Warner subscribers, leaving DirectTV, AT&T U-verse and Dish Network without Padres coverage for most of the season.

The network will broadcast other Southern California teams, such as the Los Angeles Clippers and the Anaheim Mighty Ducks, which are normally shown on Fox Sports Prime Ticket. Fox Sports Prime Ticket, a Los Angeles-based Regional Sports Network, can only be viewed in San Diego through AT&T U-verse and Time Warner Cable.
Fox Sports Network is the largest RSN provider in the nation; it broadcasts 66 of the 81 U.S. professional sports teams in MLB, NBA and NHL as well as many college and high school sports teams.

The network is also expected to have interest in the San Diego County Office of Education section sports.