When the Chicago Blackhawks, Bulls, and White Sox announced in May 2024 that they were leaving NBC Sports Chicago, formerly Comcast SportsNet Chicago, for their own network, the assumption was that the newly created network would be available in Chicago via Comcast/Xfinity because it had been that way for 20 years.
Since 2004, Chicagoans could watch the Bulls, White Sox and Cubs on NBC Sports Chicago. The Blackhawks did not join the network until 2007 after Bill Wirtz passed away and Rocky Wirtz became the chairman of the Blackhawks. The priority of the chairman was put to the Hawks on TV. Now, it appears Blackhawks are being once again subjected to the “Bill Wirtz policy” of the dark day of the franchise. This is so reminiscent of the franchise that ESPN Page 2 ranked “Worst Franchise in Sports.”
DirecTV and antenna
The only legal ways to watch CHSN within the market is by having DirecTV or to buy an antenna and attach it to your TV and then try to pick up the CHSN signal via the air.
For a history lesson, antennas were used for TV as the primary source of content until 1948 when cable was created. By 1970, there were 4.5 million cable users. By 1989, there were 53 million cable subscribers in the U.S. As of right now, Hawks fans without DirecTV have to go back in time 35 years to legally watch their favorite hockey team because no carriage agreement with Comcast/Xfinity is in place.
Comcast/Xfinity
The biggest issue of why CHSN is not on Comcast/Xfinity is because of the carriage fees.
According to digiday.com, “Carriage fees are the fees that pay-TV providers pay to TV network owners to carry the network owners’ linear TV channels on the providers’ cable, satellite or streaming pay-TV services. These fees are sometimes referred to as ‘affiliate’ or ‘distribution’ fees and annually bring in hundreds of millions to billions of dollars in revenue for TV network owners.”
As Marquee, the other Regional Sports Network (RSN) in Chicago, has seen, Comcast/Xfinity does not budge on their carriage fees. The Marquee network and home of the Chicago Cubs was not on Comcast/Xfinity until the first day spring training in 2020. The Cubs caved into Comcast’s demands because of their first spring training game. The allure of Marquee was to watch all the Cubs’ non-national spring training and regular season games.
While Comcast/Xfinity does not budge on carriage fees, CHSN is starting to get desperate. CHSN has posted on social media asking Blackhawks fans to call and complain to Comcast/Xfinity for them.
We hear you… Now let @XfinitySupport hear you! pic.twitter.com/GzQJFovY2A
— Chicago Sports Network (@CHSN__) October 17, 2024
CHSN has not endeared themselves to the fans with this plea and instead angered for fans into not calling.
In addition to angering their fans by asking to advocate on their behalf, Hawks fans have very few options for long-term viewing. YouTube TV has said they will be not be carrying CHSN and has gotten out of the RSN business.
DirecTV does carry CHSN but has had the fair share of carriage issues. DirecTV blacked out ABC and all their stations on the opening weekend of college football because they could not get a carriage deal done. The deal was eventually completed 14 days later, but the blackout compelled a number of fans to cancel their service.
In addition to the fees, Comcast/Xfinity has all the leverage in the CHSN negotiation because of the quality of the teams. The teams on CHSN are not good, simply put. Currently, the Blackhawks have the only star among those teams in Connor Bedard. Despite Bedard, the Hawks are still a rebuilding team and several years away from championship contention. The Bulls are a rebuilding team with no stars and only a feel-good story in Lonzo Ball and the White Sox just lost a modern day MLB record 121 games.
Fan perspective
As a Blackhawks fan, I am frustrated with the situation. I am placing blame solely on the ownership groups. When the Blackhawks, Bulls and White Sox were on NBC Sports Chicago, the deal was 50% ownership to Jerry Reinsdorf, 25% to the Wirtz Family and 25% NBC Universal. Reinsdorf got the Cubs’ 25% when they moved to Marquee in 2020.
So, like in everything in sports, greed drove the Blackhawks, Bulls and White Sox to start their own network. The Reinsdorf and Wirtz families did not want to share revenue and ownership with NBC Universal.
In addition to being greedy owners, they have adopted a failing business model. The Cubs have said that they have not experienced the revenue increase they projected with Marquee. The Cubs are currently telling the public they expect a bumpy negotiation with Comcast with their deal is up. Marquee continues to add teams to the network to increase viewership.
Another national example of an RSN failing is the Diamond Sports Group. The Diamond Sports Group, which operates under the name Bally Sports Group, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy earlier this year. Bally Sports was home to 33 MLB, NBA and NHL teams in their portfolio. Diamond did eventually strike a deal for 13 NBA teams and eight NHL teams to have their 2023–24 season broadcast in its entirety regardless of the bankruptcy situation, but it was still not a successful model.
With all that being said, CHSN is now saying they are waiting on Comcast/Xfinity before launching their own app. There is no information regarding NHL blackouts and costs as of yet.
Despite all the prevailing evidence and headaches, the Reinsdorf and Wirtz families decided to start their own network and now the fans are paying the price.