As the Sun-Times first reported, the White Sox, Bulls and Blackhawks will leave NBC Sports Chicago when their agreement with the regional sports network expires in October. The teams were set to join multiplatform sports network Stadium, which is owned by Sox and Bulls chairman Jerry Reinsdorf and based in the United Center.
On Saturday, The Athletic reported that the teams will partner with Standard Media Group, a company based in Nashville, Tennessee, to create the new network, which will be available over the air and through agreements with cable and streaming services. Sources could not confirm or deny the change in plans.
The expectation was that Stadium, currently available online, would convert into a regional sports network and seek distribution on pay-TV providers. It has a streaming platform already in place and conceivably could offer a direct-to-consumer service from its app. The teams also have been seeking over-the-air partners.
Reinsdorf acquired majority control of Stadium last spring. He had launched the platform in 2017 with Sinclair Broadcast Group, which later used Stadium to supply the Bally networks, then under Sinclair’s purview, with nongame programming. When Sinclair offloaded the RSNs to Diamond, it didn’t need Stadium anymore.
NBCSCH would be the latest RSN to leave NBC’s stable of networks. NBC Sports Northwest shut down when its lone tenant, the NBA’s Trail Blazers, went with a different partner. NBC Sports Washington became Monumental Sports Network when Capitals and Wizards owner Ted Leonsis bought NBCUniversal’s stake in the network and rebranded it.
The biggest challenge for a new network will be gaining carriage on providers such as Comcast and DirecTV, who could place it on a higher programming tier, which Comcast recently did with Mid-Atlantic Sports Network (MASN), home of MLB’s Orioles and Nationals. Such placement would limit the network’s penetration in the market.
Working with an over-the-air partner would help mitigate that. The NBA’s Jazz and Suns and the NHL’s Golden Knights are off cable and on OTA channels in their markets, an ironic trend in sports television that’s bringing it full circle after its migration to cable.
In Chicago, Wiegel Broadcasting has become more active in carrying sports and could be an option for the new network.