BASEBALL

MLB STRIKES DEAL TO KEEP ‘EXTRA INNINGS’ ON CABLE

Baseball struck a deal to keep its “Extra Innings” package of out-ofmarket games on cable television, an agreement that likely will allow the sport’s new TV network to be available in at least 40 million homes when it launches in 2009.

Baseball announced an exclusive $700 million, seven-year agreement with DirecTV on March 8, but during a hearing last week in Washington, Senator John Kerry, a Democrat of Massachusetts, pressed baseball to resume talks with iN Demand, which is owned by affiliates of Time Warner, Comcast and Cox. While baseball had set a March 31 deadline, the sides kept negotiating and announced an agreement last night.

“Our chief goal throughout the process was to ensure that fans would have access to as many baseball games and as much baseball coverage as possible,” baseball chief operating officer Bob DuPuy said. “With this agreement, the MLB Channel will launch with an unprecedented platform.”

As part of the agreement, iN Demand will make the “Extra Innings” package available to other cable companies, which also would be required to carry the MLB channel.

BASKETBALL

WIZARDS’ ARENAS INJURES KNEE IN LOSS

Down went Gilbert Arenas. And with him, in all likelihood, went the Washington Wizards’ hopes of achieving much of anything in the playoffs this season.

Arenas sprained his left knee in a collision with Gerald Wallace in the first quarter of Wednesday night’s 108-100 loss to the Charlotte Bobcats. The three-time All-Star will have an MRI on Thursday to determine the full extent of the damage, but the recovery time from such injuries is usually measured in weeks, not days, and the Wizards have only eight games left in the regular season.