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Sox reach new TV deal with NBC Sports


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4 minutes ago, 103 mph screwball said:

I just hope I can get the games on charter.  Or I hope they get rid of blackout restrictions and I will get mlb pass.  I was hoping for something I could stream.   

The other option is just to sign up for MLB.TV through your laptop/tablet/Ipad, but then you could still be blocked depending on your geographic location?   VPN maybe?

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Am doing a project for the White Sox and came across this piece in Sports Illustrated from April 1987. Just found it ironic in the wake of the deal that is supposed to be taking place. Honestly didn't even know WFLD-TV was doing this (or did this):

"The state of the team was perhaps best summed up in the off-season when WFLD, the White Sox TV station, filed suit to get out of the final three years of its contract with the team, claiming, in part, that the Sox are "not desirable to watch."

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7 hours ago, Tony said:

The Cubs new TV deal could get VERY interesting if they go with Sinclair.

- NBCSports Chicago (Comcast) is just losing a team, the station basically stays the same. Ownership stake just gets shifted around. 

- The Cubs are starting an entirely new RSN, and happen to be joining up with a gigantic competitor to Comcast. 

With cable where it’s at right now and so many people “cutting the cord” cable companies aren’t jumping for joy when a new channel comes into town and asking for a big sub fee. Comcast is the biggest cable provider in Chicago and already have a sports network that carries a Chicago baseball team. How much are they really going to offer the Cubs for their new network for distribution? This is exactly what happened with the Dodgers and Spectrum. Dangerous game the Cubs are playing...

Yep, Houston and even the Yankees had problems getting everyone to pick them up too 

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2 minutes ago, AustinIllini said:

I'm curious to find out when Amazon or Youtube will make a move to get streaming rights to big games.  I like the agreement we signed in principle but the future is those subscription services.

Doubt any time soon. MLB has their own competing media service that theyve already turned into over 1.5 billion dollars and still hold plenty of stake in it.

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3 minutes ago, Buehrle>Wood said:

Doubt any time soon. MLB has their own competing media service that theyve already turned into over 1.5 billion dollars and still hold plenty of stake in it.

It wouldn't be a competing service, but MLB sells many of their games to national outlets (ESPN Sunday night for example).  If Amazon were to make a competitive bid on something like the MLB would be crazy to not listen.  

It's not hurting the NFL at all that Thursday Night games are on Amazon Prime.

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Their partner is Sinclair and the channel will be called Marquee, according to the Sun-Times. Levine reported no Cubs-Sinclair deal is in place but said industry sources indicated Sinclair was a leading candidate to team with the ballclub.

Sinclair is a partner in Stadium, Reinsdorf’s multi-platform sports outlet based at the United Center. Its holdings also include Tennis Channel.

While Sinclair owns and/or operates 193 TV stations around the country, it’s probably best known in Chicago for its proposed $3.9 billion merger with WGN-9 and WGN-AM 720 parent Tribune Media.

(It’s worth noting Tribune Publishing, not Tribune Media, is this newspaper’s owner.)

The Tribune Media deal fell apart earlier this year in the face of federal regulatory hurdles, despite Sinclair’s strong support of the Trump administration and its policies.

But that shouldn’t be a problem for the Cubs or their owners.

The challenge faced by the Cubs — and to a degree the Sox, Bulls and Hawks — will be to sell the public on their channel because it’s consumers who are needed to make the add-on a must-buy commodity for cable systems as well as advertisers.

No matter how energized and undyingly loyal a fan base is, people aren’t necessarily eager to spend more for TV or streaming than they already are.

 

https://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/ct-spt-cubs-sinclair-broadcast-group-nbc-sports-chicago-20181219-story.html

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5 minutes ago, AustinIllini said:

It wouldn't be a competing service, but MLB sells many of their games to national outlets (ESPN Sunday night for example).  If Amazon were to make a competitive bid on something like the MLB would be crazy to not listen.  

It's not hurting the NFL at all that Thursday Night games are on Amazon Prime.

They're partners with disney so yeah they could go with them. But the mouse didn't just give them a billion dollars to have mlb stab them in the back and go with Amazon.

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It feels like the wrong time to start a local TV channel.  I get that baseball is an aging fanbase but wouldn't it make sens to have the Cubs or Sox be a streaming service in the local region?

That way, I can cancel cable and pay for SoxNOW or whatever it would be called.  As is, I love MLB.tv and it sucks the local markets don't get it.

Edited by AustinIllini
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40 minutes ago, AustinIllini said:

I'm curious to find out when Amazon or Youtube will make a move to get streaming rights to big games.  I like the agreement we signed in principle but the future is those subscription services.

Which is probably part of the reason we’re going with a five year deal.

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43 minutes ago, AustinIllini said:

I'm curious to find out when Amazon or Youtube will make a move to get streaming rights to big games.  I like the agreement we signed in principle but the future is those subscription services.

Doesn’t YouTube tv show nbcs? Or am I misunderstanding. Exclusive rights?

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