Chicago sports fans who subscribe to Comcast cable in the city are still without access to watching Chicago Bulls, White Sox, and Blackhawks games, as the distributor continues to not have a deal in place with the Chicago Sports Network, known as CHSN. The new regional sports network, which launched in October ahead of the NBA and NHL seasons, still has no carriage deal in place with the distributor. However, it is available on other Chicago-area providers such as DirecTV and Astound/RCN.
Recently, Bulls President Michael Reinsdorf joined Blackhawks CEO Danny Wirtz at a Crain’s Chicago Business real estate event and expressed his frustration. He stated that he believes Comcast is acting in bad faith during negotiations with the network.
“It’s disappointing you can’t go to bars and restaurants to get games,” Reinsdorf said. “They’re costing people money, they’re costing people enjoyment, and to me, that’s not right.”
Furthermore, Reinsdorf noted the teams involved had a great relationship with Comcast while their games appeared on the recently folded NBC Sports Chicago. Nonetheless, he said he is frustrated by what he perceives as preferential treatment, believing the Chicago Cubs’ Marquee Sports Network appears to be further along in negotiations than CHSN.
Reinsdorf’s family are the majority owners of the White Sox and Bulls.
“To me, it’s bad faith,” Reinsdorf said. “It’s discriminatory. It doesn’t make sense.”
Moreover, Comcast recently had a carriage dispute with the YES Network, which carries New York Yankees and Brooklyn Nets games. The carrier has expressed a desire to place regional sports networks on a higher, more expensive digital tier of its Xfinity cable systems. This is instead of keeping the channels available on its more widely distributed expanded basic tiers, where regional sports networks have traditionally been placed.
According to a report in the Chicago Sun-Times, Reinsdorf believed he had a deal in place with Comcast back in December. However, he said it fell apart at the corporate level.
Additionally, CHSN is also available in the Chicago market via over-the-air broadcasting.
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