Comcast SportsNet Houston (or CSN Houston) is an upcoming regional sports network

Regional sports network

In the United States of America and Canada, a regional sports network, or RSN, is a cable television station that presents sports programming to a local market. The most important programming on an RSN consists of live broadcasts of professional and college sporting events, as those games generate...

 that will serve the Houston, Texas

Houston, Texas

Houston is the fourth-largest city in the United States, and the largest city in the state of Texas. According to the 2010 U.S. Census, the city had a population of 2.1 million people within an area of . Houston is the seat of Harris County and the economic center of , which is the ...

 market, scheduled to launch in 2012. It will be the exclusive home of the NBA

National Basketball Association

The National Basketball Association is the pre-eminent men's professional basketball league in North America. It consists of thirty franchised member clubs, of which twenty-nine are located in the United States and one in Canada...

's Houston Rockets

Houston Rockets

The Houston Rockets are an American professional basketball team based in Houston, Texas. The team plays in the Southwest Division of the Western Conference in the National Basketball Association . The team was established in 1967, and played in San Diego, California for four years, before being...

 beginning with the 2012-2013 NBA season and the MLB

Major League Baseball

Major League Baseball is the highest level of professional baseball in the United States and Canada, consisting of teams that play in the National League and the American League...

's Houston Astros

Houston Astros

The Houston Astros are a Major League Baseball team located in Houston, Texas. They are a member of the National League Central division. The Astros are expected to join the American League West division in 2013. Since , they have played their home games at Minute Maid Park, known as Enron Field...

 beginning in the 2013 MLB season  and will be majority owned by both teams.

History

The initial idea of a team-owned regional sports network was first proposed in 1999. It was former Rockets president George Postolos who floated the idea with Fox, who passed on the offer. The Rockets then teamed up with the Astros in 2003 to jointly launch an RSN. The first order of business was to sever ties with Fox Sports Houston

Fox Sports Houston

Fox Sports Houston is a regional sports network that covers sports in Houston, Texas. The network operates out of Downtown Houston....

, which led to a 20 month court battle. The settlement with Fox led to a new deal with the network valued at $600 million over 10-15 years. However, this contract contained a clause allowing the teams to bail on the contract and negotiate with other networks starting in late 2009. The Astros/Rockets group held talks with Comcast, DirecTV

DirecTV

DirecTV is an American direct broadcast satellite service provider and broadcaster based in El Segundo, California. Its satellite service, launched on June 17, 1994, transmits digital satellite television and audio to households in the United States, Latin America, and the Anglophone Caribbean. ...

, and AT&T

AT&T

AT&T Inc. is an American multinational telecommunications corporation headquartered in Whitacre Tower, Dallas, Texas, United States. It is the largest provider of mobile telephony and fixed telephony in the United States, and is also a provider of broadband and subscription television services...

. Continuation of the Astros and Rockets broadcasts on Fox Sports Houston was on the table as the network offered $1.2 billion over 10 years. However, it was ownership in a regional sports network that the two teams wanted. This led to the teams agreeing to a $1 billion contract with Comcast, which included a 77.5% ownership in the network.