Suggestions that the Astros and Rockets could jump ship from Fox Sports Houston began in late February during the final stages of the Vancouver Olympics, and I must admit I didn’t pay much attention at the time. I clearly underestimated the pace at which things apparently have progressed and the teams’ desire to capture the financial windfall they believe eluded them in 2004, when they settled a legal dispute by abandoning plans for a Houston Regional Sports Network in favor of a new deal with Fox.

Fox is said to be paying in the mid-$40 million range each year to the Astros and Rockets, or about $200,000 per game. Your Uncles Drayton and Les, however, want more. And the terms of the current deal have given them a window to re-up the ante halfway through what was projected to be a 10- to 15-year deal with Fox.

You can expect your cable or satellite bill to increase as a result, regardless of the bidding outcome.

FSH now receives an estimated $2.50 per month per subscriber in the Houston area. I don’t know how Comcast’s business model works with its RSNs or with owned sports networks such as the Golf Channel and Versus, but chances are pretty good that it will be seeking more money from subscribers to pay for the higher rights fees that the Astros and Rockets will command. If Fox re-signs the teams, it, too, will have to increase fees to foot the bill.

Availability for Comcast SportsNet Houston, if it comes to pass, obviously won’t be a problem for Comcast customers. However, Comcast would have to negotiate with DirecTV, Dish Network, smaller cable companies that control about 500,000 households in the Houston DMA, and carriers across the southern half of the state, including Time Warner in San Antonio, Austin and the Valley.

Even if it doesn’t re-sign the Astros and Rockets, FSN won’t be going away. Locals would get a lot more Rangers and Stars games, since they wouldn’t be pre-empted by the Astros and Rockets. Also, viewers outside a 75-mile radius of Houston probably would get a lot more Spurs or Mavericks games from FSN.

FSN also has the Big 12 and Pac-10 through 2012, but both leagues are in play in the wake of college realignment chatter. FSN recently lost out to ESPN for the ACC football and basketball package, which in theory means it has more money to offer the Big 12 and Pac-10. Texas, meanwhile, continues to make noise about starting its own RSN, presumably in partnership with Time Warner, which opens a whole other area of potential intrigue in dealing with Comcast for carriage in Houston

Already sounds more interesting than wondering whether the Astros will lose 90 or 100 games, doesn’t it?