Chicagoland sports fans could find all their teams in one place in a possible merger of Chicago Sports Network (CHSN) and Marquee Sports Network, according to a report by John Ourand of Puck.
The two Regional Sports Networks have had carriage disputes with Comcast, the largest pay-TV provider in the area, and a merger could entice a lucrative offer. From the report:
Chatter about a potential merger between Marquee and CSN has only grown louder in recent weeks. Sinclair, which owns a minority stake in Marquee, has been trying to work out a deal with Comcast to replace the contract that expired at the end of baseball season. At the same time, Sinclair is negotiating a new Comcast deal for its local TV stations.
NBC Sports Chicago, which Comcast had a 25% ownership stake in, was the former home of the area’s pro teams but went dark earlier this year when a deal couldn’t be reached. The Chicago Cubs were the first team to leave the RSN in 2020 when they created Marquee Sports Network. The Chicago Bulls, White Sox, and Blackhawks couldn’t come to an agreement with NBC Sports Chicago, which led to the launch of the Chicago Sports Network in October.
Since the launch of CHSN, Comcast has not carried the RSN, which has led to millions of subscribers being unable to watch the local MLB, NHL, and NBA franchises. For CHSN’s part, the RSN launched a direct-to-consumer streaming service last month. This combined with its over-the-air option helped the platform expand its reach for viewers.
Since Comcast doesn’t have the same ownership stake in CHSN as it did in NBC Sports Chicago, it has leverage over the startup RSN’s ownership group. “Comcast—the industry’s most well-known enforcer of the dreaded cliff path, which forces vulnerable R.S.N.s to a more expensive and less popular cable tier,” per Ourand’s report.
As streaming changes the landscape of what NBA commissioner Adam Silver has called a “broken” RSN model, Comcast is enforcing its dominance in the Chicagoland market to dictate the terms. However, CHSN has negotiated deals with streaming providers, including a multi-year agreement with Fubo and a landmark deal with DIRECTV and DIRECTV STREAM.
Marquee Sports can also be found on both of those streamers and if it does merge with CHSN, the collective offering could be too much for Comcast to turn down.
Credit: Puck