The Lakers have agreed to a 20-year deal with Time Warner Cable to create two regional sports channels that will use the two-time reigning NBA champions as their backbone.
The agreement is a major blow to Fox Sports West and KCAL-TV, the two current rights holders for the Lakers.
Starting with the 2012-13 season, all Lakers games except for national telecasts will be available on cable only. That includes preseason, regular season and playoff games.
One of the two as-yet unnamed cable channels will be a Spanish-language network.
Under its current deal with Fox Sports West, the Lakers were getting about $30 million a year in rights fees, people familiar with the situation said. Some industry observers pegged the 20-year pact at a value of $3 billion, a figure dismissed by Time Warner Cable.