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Cubs end WGN-TV contract


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http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/breaking/chi-chicago-cubs-wgn-tv-20131106,0,169192,print.story

 

Cubs exercise option to end WGN-TV contract after next season

By Robert Channick

Tribune reporter

10:13 AM CST, November 6, 2013

 

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The Chicago Cubs have exercised an option to get out of their broadcast contract with WGN-TV after the 2014 season, sources close to the situation said Wednesday.

On Tuesday, the team notified the Tribune Co.-owned station it had 30 days to meet a higher assessed fair market value for the broadcast rights, or they would be opened up for negotiation with other media. A third-party consultant hired by the Cubs and WGN-TV determined the increased valuation, according to sources.

 

After 30 days, the team would be free to explore other broadcast options for about 70 games televised each season by WGN, opening the door to a potentially more lucrative contract or perhaps its own cable sports network.

 

Efforts to reach a Tribune Co. spokesman Wednesday morning were unsuccessful, and a Cubs spokesman declined to comment.

 

The Cubs and WGN-TV have a broadcast partnership that dates to 1948. With baseball rights fees soaring, there is much at stake for both. In January, the Los Angeles Dodgers launched their own cable sports network, striking a deal with Time Warner Cable that will pay the team a reported $7 billion to broadcast its games over 25 years.

Currently, Cubs games are split between Comcast SportsNet Chicago and WGN-TV, netting the club about $60 million in annual broadcast rights fees combined, according to sources. The CSN deal runs through 2019 and includes the White Sox, Bulls and Blackhawks as partners. Comcast owns about 30 percent of the network.

 

The Cubs get about $20 million to air 70 games each year on WGN. If the team didn’t give notice to opt out at this point in the contract, the deal would run through 2022 at the current rate, and the Cubs would lose any leverage for renegotiating the broadcast rights, according to sources.

The Ricketts family inherited the broadcast agreements as part of their 2009 purchase of the Cubs from Tribune Co., owner of the Chicago Tribune and WGN-TV. The $845 million deal — then the highest in Major League Baseball history — included Wrigley Field and a 25 percent stake in Comcast SportsNet Chicago.

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Well, there goes 66 years. It's probably best for WGN to not have a new contract, anyway. It would cost a crapload of money to re-sign, like 5-10 times more (and that's not too much of an exaggeration). On the other hand, the Cubs really have another thing coming if they think a Cubs network is a good idea down the line.

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Something tells me another OTA station's not going to step in if WGN drops the Cubs. Another potential middle-finger to cord-cutters...

 

I wouldn't be completely surprised if a handful (less than 10) of CSN-produced games popped up on WCIU (yes, even with their WGN deal) or WPWR. It's incredibly unlikely, but stranger things have happened.

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I'm really beginning to get frustrated with the Ricketts family. They're changing everything with the stadium and TV just to haul in cash, but the product on the field continues to be terrible. I'm honestly concerned that their entire ownership regieme will be about pocketing the cash because they know that Cubs fans will keep coming for the "experience" even though the team sucks.

 

Pretty soon, though, if they keep destroying tradition while failing to improve the team, they'll have no tradition and no team, and at that point, they're going to start driving fans away.

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I'm really beginning to get frustrated with the Ricketts family. They're changing everything with the stadium and TV just to haul in cash, but the product on the field continues to be terrible. I'm honestly concerned that their entire ownership regieme will be about pocketing the cash because they know that Cubs fans will keep coming for the "experience" even though the team sucks.

 

Pretty soon, though, if they keep destroying tradition while failing to improve the team, they'll have no tradition and no team, and at that point, they're going to start driving fans away.

 

Exactly!!!!

 

The good thing about this is, at least for now, nothing has been final. And I hope the Trib can come up with a counter offer to at least keep some of the games on Channel 9. But I just hope this long-lasting tradition doesn't go down the drain. And I would be so irate if any other station carry the Cubs.

 

The only reason why Channel 26 is airing the games is because WGN can't air those games because of network pre-emption limitations. If WGN never was affiliated with The WB/CW, then Channel 26 would've never air any of the WGN games.

 

It would look even stupid if any other station, even WPWR airing the Cubs games. Don't get me started with all those new ad signs at Wrigley.....

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Well, Lewis Lazare is reporting that the WFLD-WPWR duo might be interested in picking up the rights to the Cubs, should a deal with WGN fall through/never materialize. http://www.bizjournals.com/chicago/news/2013/11/06/chicago-cubs-to-tribune-co-pay-up-or.html?page=all

 

 

Well that came out of left field.. Do we know anything about the White Sox deal?

 

I think that's up around 2017, but I'm pretty sure Reinsdorf and Co. negotiate the Bulls broadcasts with it. I don't think Chairman Jerry is in any rush to ditch 'GN.

 

 

Don't get me started with all those new ad signs at Wrigley.....

 

The one in right field is one thing, the -ahem- OTHER sign is more than unnecessary.

 

I'm now really interested to see how re-negotiations with WGN Radio go after this development. The Northsiders really don't have anywhere to go on the AM dial (within reason). Somewhat unrelated, radio color announcer Keith Moreland has announced his exit from the WGN booth after 3 years... http://chicagoradioandmedia.com/news/6097-wgn-am-cubs-announcer-moreland-announces-exit-after-3-years-in-broadcast-booth

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I'm really beginning to get frustrated with the Ricketts family. They're changing everything with the stadium and TV just to haul in cash, but the product on the field continues to be terrible. I'm honestly concerned that their entire ownership regieme will be about pocketing the cash because they know that Cubs fans will keep coming for the "experience" even though the team sucks.

 

Pretty soon, though, if they keep destroying tradition while failing to improve the team, they'll have no tradition and no team, and at that point, they're going to start driving fans away.

 

With Epstein/Hoyer and Co. The Cubs are in good hands, it will take time though. It's frustrating right now, but they do have to stock up the depleted farm system and that takes time/good drafts and money. I think the Ricketts' understand that they have to do the things the right way, and throwing money at a product is not always the best way to achieve success (i.e. Yankees). With regards to WGN, it's sad and dissapointing that they could possibly part ways but it is a business. However, there is a valuable asset that no other tv provider can offer other than WGN, and that is the national exposure. There is no other tv provider/station that can offer 70+ games on tv (free to the local market and on cable in many systems across the U.S.) without MLB's blackout restrictions. Even FOX/ESPN are limited in the amount of games they can show involving a particular team. So in essence, the WGN contract would expose more people to Cubs baseball and build an even larger fan base. It's hard to say what Tribune will do in this situation, but they know that whatever viewers are watching WGN America is because of Cubs baseball.
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If negotiations with WGN fall apart, then it's gonna suck for Cubs fans who have WGN America as those outside of Chicago would have to subscribe to MLB Extra Innings. Even worse, they'll have to shell out around $200 or so to get access to Cubs games. Good Luck!

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If negotiations with WGN fall apart, then it's gonna suck for Cubs fans who have WGN America as those outside of Chicago would have to subscribe to MLB Extra Innings. Even worse, they'll have to shell out around $200 or so to get access to Cubs games. Good Luck!

 

I doubt the Tribune is willing to pay anything above the current rate and in reality, the ends wouldn't justify the means in doing so. Not being on WGN America isn't too big of a deal. Yeah it will suck for fans outside of Chicago, but the exposure over the years hasn't been much of a cash cow for either side. Nostalgia can only get you so far these days.

 

A WFLD/WPWR deal would be a better option because FOX would likely shell out a ton of cash in hopes to strengthen both stations and serve as a building block to get other sports programming deals in the future.

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Not being on WGN America isn't too big of a deal. Yeah it will suck for fans outside of Chicago, but the exposure over the years hasn't been much of a cash cow for either side. Nostalgia can only get you so far these days.

 

I know it's tough to decipher the difference between sarcasm and honesty on this site, so let me clarify that the following sentence is how I HONESTLY feel:

 

This is the most logical thought I have ever read on this website. I wish more members here were like this.

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  • 4 months later...

 

How much combined do the cubs make for wgn and Comcast sports net? Maybe a restricting of the deal could occur to where wgn keeps games on the air albeit in a reduced capacity

 

I'm not looking through the thread to see if it's already been said, so I'll say it anyway. The current WGN deal dates back to Tribune's ownership, so the TV and radio rights were kind of on a sweetheart deal. As for exact numbers, I have an idea, but I'm not saying as I'm really just not sure. At any rate, it's not crazy to think that the team will want 5 to 10 times (or more) what they're currently getting from the old number 9. That's also why the AM deal is also up for grabs.

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They're hamstrung with the CSN contract as far as time and rights fee are concerned but they will certainly try to recoup some of the lost tv money with those 70 WGN games. The Atlanta Braves were in the same boat a few years ago. They have a long term contract with FOX Sports and I believe they were paying the Braves $25 million a season in rights fees which is very low compared to what other small market teams are getting. 45 Braves games aired over the air on PeachTree TV, so the team and FOX Sports bought out that contract and moved those games to cable. So, now FOX will pay the team more for those 45 games than they do for the other 115 games already on FOX Sports. I suspect that the Cubs will try to do the same thing and try to bridge the gap until they can completely re-negotiate their tv contract. It comes down to this: If the Cubs return to WGN, the amount of games will probably be cut in half and the right fees will at the very least double. Would WGN/Tribune be willing to pony up that amount of money?

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  • 3 weeks later...

If the Cubs are going to launch their own TV network, does anybody think it would be a good idea for them to try to strike a deal to put the current 70 WGN games on CSN but only until maybe 2017 or 2018 so that the Cubs could put those 70 games on its own network a year or two the full slate of games goes on their own network? My thinking is that it would help to kind of ween things over to that network. Lately, we've seen major carriage issues for these new networks in LA with the Dodgers and in Houston with the Astros and Rockets, so maybe by launching the Cubs network with 70 games on it for the first year or two would help the team to gain full carriage without causing a huge disaster where DirecTV or Dish customers can't get the new network and are unable to watch the entire season.

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If the Cubs are going to launch their own TV network, does anybody think it would be a good idea for them to try to strike a deal to put the current 70 WGN games on CSN but only until maybe 2017 or 2018 so that the Cubs could put those 70 games on its own network a year or two the full slate of games goes on their own network? My thinking is that it would help to kind of ween things over to that network. Lately, we've seen major carriage issues for these new networks in LA with the Dodgers and in Houston with the Astros and Rockets, so maybe by launching the Cubs network with 70 games on it for the first year or two would help the team to gain full carriage without causing a huge disaster where DirecTV or Dish customers can't get the new network and are unable to watch the entire season.

 

It would be a logistical nightmare, not to mention costly for the Cubs and any company that decides to partner up with them to launch an RSN with so few games. It's probably best if they kept the status quo until their full rights expire. This way they can actually start fresh and have one place where fans can tune in. Whether they partner up with FOX or CSN on a new Cubs network remains to be seen and it will all boil down to who puts up the most money.
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I still struggle to wrap my head around the idea of a whole Cubs network. How the hell do they plan on programming this thing? I've seen the crap Comcast puts on the air during the day, and they broadcast coverage of 4-5 pro clubs and numerous other teams. How is a single team going to sustain the viewers' attention 24/7/365? If they were smart, they might consider talking to the Blackhawks to see if they would want to go into some sort of arrangement (Reinsdorf would want to keep the Sox and Bulls together). The Hawks would bring far superior ratings and more money into the equation, but Rocky Wirtz isn't so stupid to get invloved in something like this. So, it's either just the Cubs or nothing, and I just can't see this working on ANY level.

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