News Corp. is expanding its global media empire to include the New York Yankees. The company announced Nov. 20 it has acquired a 49-percent stake in the Yankees Entertainment and Sports Network, YES, which provides local television coverage of Yankees’ baseball games and Brooklyn Nets basketball games. The deal will also extend the network’s rights to cover Yankees baseball until 2042.

Although financial details of the deal have not been disclosed, YES, which reaches about 9 million tri-state and Pennsylvania homes, is valued at about $3 billion. Analysts speculate News Corp. could have paid less than $1.5 billion if it also assumed the network’s debts in the transaction.

News Corp. deputy chief operating officer James Murdoch, who is also a Yankee Global Enterprises board member, was a key player in the purchase.

“We’ve long been a believer in the unique appeal of sports entertainment,” he said in a statement. “Partnering upstream with rights holders is even more important today in the dynamic media marketplace in which we compete. The YES Network represents the gold standard for regional sports networks.”

In three years News Corp. will have the option to increase its ownership to an 80-percent stake, allowing Goldman Sachs to exit the business and leaving Yankee Global Enterprises with a 20-percent interest in the network.

We look forward to the many opportunities for growth and development that this investment by News Corp. will bring to YES,” Yankee Global Enterprises chairman Hal Steinbrenner said in a statement. “The Steinbrenner family expects to have a continuing, long-term ownership stake in the YES Network.”

Major League Baseball must approve the TV rights agreement, which will ultimately allow Rupert Murdock-controlled News Corp. a hedge against the rising cost of sports rights fees. The sale is expected to close by the end of the year.