The Chicago Sports Network, a new regional sports network offering in the Chicago area, is expected to launch this fall with broadcast rights to three of the five local teams in the area. The Chicago White Sox, Chicago Bulls and Chicago Blackhawks will all broadcast games on the entity, moving away from NBC Sports Chicago and engaging in this joint venture between the teams and Standard Media Group. NBC Sports Chicago will officially cease operations at the end of the month after recently celebrating its 20th year anniversary on the air. Ahead of the new basketball and hockey seasons, the network is reportedly closing in on its first distribution deal.
Chicago Sports Network is said to be nearing a carriage deal with DirecTV, according to a new report from Jeff Agrest of the Chicago Sun-Times. When the network officially launches on Oct. 1, subscribers of DirecTV, DirecTV Stream and U-Verse TV are expected to witness a smooth transition from NBC Sports Chicago to the new regional sports network. The report states that Chicago Sports Network is expected to have the same channel location as NBC Sports Chicago and appear across the same five-state geographic area.
Although the network could reportedly be available on DirecTV, the outlet has yet to reach a deal with Comcast, which is the largest cable provider in the marketplace. The Xfinity service is estimated to be in roughly half of the households, but reaching a deal could prove challenging because of Comcast moving RSNs to its highest programming tier due to the augmented cost of carrying sports. Earlier in the summer, Comcast and Diamond Sports Group agreed to terms on a carriage deal that moved Bally Sports-branded regional sports networks to the “Ultimate TV” tier for customers in X1 packaging, requiring subscribers to pay more to access such channels.
Chicago Sports Network will televise more than 300 live White Sox, Bulls and Blackhawks games annually, in addition to pregame and postgame coverage and 24/7 multi-sport programming. Studios for the network will be located from production studios at United Center and Guaranteed Rate Field. The network is expected to launch this October with preseason games for the Blackhawks and Bulls, providing users the ability to watch through traditional cable and streaming services, along with availability on free, over-the-air broadcast television.
