After negotiations to keep games for the Chicago White Sox, Chicago Bulls and Chicago Blackhawks on NBC Sports Chicago did not result in a deal, the three teams announced the creation of Chicago Sports Network, a new regional sports network formed in a partnership with Standard Media. At the moment, it is unknown which cable providers will carry Chicago Sports Network when it comes to the air in October; however, more information about the arrangements will be shared over the summer. Dan Bernstein and Laurence Holmes provided their perspectives on the news during Bernstein & Holmes on 670 The Score Tuesday afternoon.
Holmes, who works for NBC Sports Chicago as a host, detailed the environment at the network on Monday once the news was announced and commended the staff for its professionalism. In his description, he called the news a “gut punch,” but something that personnel knew was coming. The question centered more around if the two sides could reach a six-month extension, something that ultimately proved not to be the case.
“They know they’re going to get hit by a train,” Holmes said. “It was just a matter of, ‘Are they going to get hit by the train in October or are they going to get hit by a train next April?,’ and then finding out yesterday the train’s coming in October and maybe you moved here from someplace else over the last few years, and now you have to figure out, ‘Am I going to go to the next place? Do I need to start looking?’”
Earlier in the segment, Bernstein believed that the creation of the Chicago Sports Network was “delaying the inevitable” in that the regional sports network model has struggled to remain profitable. Several companies have scaled back or exited the RSN business entirely, including Warner Bros. Discovery and Comcast. Moreover, Diamond Sports Group, a subsidiary of Sinclair, has been embattled in Ch. 11 bankruptcy hearings for more than a year, and it remains unknown whether or not the entity will be able to materialize from the state. The situation with Major League Baseball and Diamond Sports Group remains unresolved, with the league itself currently producing and disseminating games for three teams, two of which were formerly associated on Diamond-owned networks.
“I wish more people nationally were discussing this with more alarm,” Holmes said pertaining to the situation surrounding Major League Baseball and regional sports networks. “It just was kind of like, ‘Oh yeah, Major League Baseball is totally going to pick up the slack where Diamond broadcasting failed.’ Okay, you’re talking about the production side of it. What ends up happening overall is something that’s worth discussing because now we’re talking about revenue for everyone.”
In a recent interview with the Bernstein & Holmes show, Chicago Cubs president of business operations Crane Kenney discussed how the deal between Comcast and Marquee Sports Network expires in September. Within his remarks, he expressed that half of the homes that receive Cubs game broadcasts access such through Comcast and that the issue of distribution keeps him up at night. While Holmes outlined that the Cubs have partial ownership of Marquee Sports Network with Sinclair Broadcast Group, it needs to be distributed in the marketplace for people to watch the games.
“…It does seem like Comcast, capital C, doesn’t want to be in the business of regional sports networks,” Holmes said “That’s part of the reason that you’re seeing Jerry Reinsdorf and the Wirtzes move over to start their own venture, but they’ll also need distribution.”
Holmes hopes that the Chicago Sports Network will implement an over-the-air component, partnering with WGN-TV (channel No. 9) or FOX 32 Chicago (channel No. 32) and finding a way to establish a revenue split. Within his discourse, he specifically stated that the network would give these broadcast channels the programming to air and sell, and would then figure out a revenue split.
“With Channel 9, they’ve done a lot of syndication… at night where that would be a perfect place for them,” Holmes said. “Sure, it would disrupt the 9:00 news, but they would have live sports, which is what everyone is trying to get.”
