By: E&P Staff One week after a Bloomberg.com telephone
interview with Mortimer Zuckerman -- in Morocco attending a celebration of the king's 10th year of rule -- revealed that the real estate mogul and New York Daily News Publisher would sell enough stock in his Boston Properties to personally pay for his newspaper plant's
new presses, the billionaire identifies what he thinks can save U.S. newspapers.
After
telling Forbes.com that many cities will find themselves without newspapers, Zuckerman is quoted saying that the "federal government ought to ... allow sports betting on newspaper Web sites. That would save every newspaper in America." Pointing to the practice by British newspapers, Zuckerman called it "a crucial part of their net revenue stream. I know a major newspaper in London that makes $15 million a year from sports betting alone."
Zuckerman's remarks come just two days after a federal judge denied a request by collegiate and professional organizations to stop a planned sports lottery in Delaware until issues regarding the legality of single-game betting are resolved. Since 1992, federal law has prohibited sports betting in all but Delaware and three other states where it already was permitted.
The publisher said his solution for newspapers would require an act of Congress and a government willing to face opposition from casino interests: "Newspaper owners have never gotten together to lobby for this because they have always been quite profitable. Those days are behind us."
Zuckerman will raise $50 million from the sale of a portion of his stake in Boston Properties to acquire printing capacity to efficiently produce up to 160 pages of high-quality color.
"I'm not trying to pretend this is going to make the Daily News hugely profitable," he told Forbes.com. "I'm addicted to the print press. I've been a fanatic about journalism since I was 12 years old." He said the cost of the overall project will be nearer $200 million, with the balance coming out of his pocket.
"What makes me optimistic is the unique role of the Daily News and other newspapers in New York City," Zuckerman said, calling the Daily News "a first read for a lot of people, including the growing subway ridership, which is "a part of our audience."
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