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Future of Cubs Baseball on WGN-TV after 2014


stevieboy247

Do you think the Cubs will stay on WGN-TV after 2014?  

15 members have voted

  1. 1. Do you think the Cubs will stay on WGN-TV after 2014?

    • Yes, they will stay put
    • No, they'll likely move to WPWR or air exclusively on CSN
      0
    • Not sure


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I know this is a site mainly for television news talk, and I'm surprised that this hasn't been discussed on here a while back, but it seems like there has been speculation for about a year now regarding the Cubs and their half-century relationship with WGN-TV.

 

According to the Chicago Tribune, the Cubs may exercise a clause to opt out of their contract with the station after the 2014 season. There is also some speculation that Fox could snatch the rights away from WGN by airing games on WPWR. Should the Cubs part ways with WGN after next year, it will not only be the end of a broadcast era in Chicago, but it could also be a serious blow to the station and their cable superstation, WGN America.

 

So as I bring this issue up for debate, do you think the Cubs will stay on WGN, or will they move their games to WPWR?

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I know this is a site mainly for television news talk, and I'm surprised that this hasn't been discussed on here a while back, but it seems like there has been speculation for about a year now regarding the Cubs and their half-century relationship with WGN-TV.

 

According to the Chicago Tribune, the Cubs may exercise a clause to opt out of their contract with the station after the 2014 season. There is also some speculation that Fox could snatch the rights away from WGN by airing games on WPWR. Should the Cubs part ways with WGN after next year, it will not only be the end of a broadcast era in Chicago, but it could also be a serious blow to the station and their cable superstation, WGN America.

 

So as I bring this issue up for debate, do you think the Cubs will stay on WGN, or will they move their games to WPWR?

 

Not sure why Fox would go after it. They don't have a regional sports network there anymore after Comcast took away all the rights to all the pro teams in Chicago. And Comcast's contract with the Cubs doesn't expire until 2017.

 

So I see a few possible scenarios happening until 2019.

 

1. WGN extends the contract with the Cubs until at least 2019 to match it up with the Comcast one (my preference).

2. Comcast manages to take the over-the-air rights away from WGN and puts them on WMAQ which is similar to what the Giants do in San Francisco with KNTV after they took them away from KTVU.

3. WGN decides to let the contract expire and Comcast decides to put all of their games on Comcast Sportsnet. A popular trend in the sports broadcasting industry lately.

 

After the Comcast contract expires in 2019, then Fox might try to come back to the Chicago market in a bidding war with Comcast. But without a local sports presence there minus the Fox 32 sports department, it would be hard to do. Regardless, WGN isn't going to give up the OTA rights to the Cubs without a fight.

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I know this is a site mainly for television news talk, and I'm surprised that this hasn't been discussed on here a while back, but it seems like there has been speculation for about a year now regarding the Cubs and their half-century relationship with WGN-TV.

 

According to the Chicago Tribune, the Cubs may exercise a clause to opt out of their contract with the station after the 2014 season. There is also some speculation that Fox could snatch the rights away from WGN by airing games on WPWR. Should the Cubs part ways with WGN after next year, it will not only be the end of a broadcast era in Chicago, but it could also be a serious blow to the station and their cable superstation, WGN America.

 

So as I bring this issue up for debate, do you think the Cubs will stay on WGN, or will they move their games to WPWR?

 

It will be a very difficult decision for Tribune to make. Do they stay with the Cubs and keep WGN America relevant, while forking over millions of dollars? Or do they simply say good bye and hope that people still tune in to the channel, all while saving a lot of money? One has to admit that the Cubs/WGN relationship has been beneficial to one another and without it, I don't think that the Cubs would have as many fans across the country. Also, should FOX pry the rights for OTA games, starting next year they can simulcast some of those games on FOX Sports 1. The article does mention that the Cubs could do a 5 year renewal with WGN and that will cover it until the end of the 2019 season when their agreement with CSN Chicago ends. Then starting the 2020 season, they could end up on a new outlet whether that be CSN or the Cubs' own network. I also would not discount FOX coming in and trying to work out something with the Cubs to air more than those 70 games a year, perhaps buying out the last remaining years on the contract with CSN and starting up a new regional network. FOX is very aggressive with these tv rights, and they are willing to lay down the cash where they see an opportunity to expand. It will be interesting to see what happens, but $80 million dollars a year might be too much for Tribune to pay every year for the rights.
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I like the idea of extending the 'GN deal til 2019 and then crossing that bridge when we come to it. I don't think there's a snowball's chance in hell of Fox picking up the rights, much less airing them on My50.

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I honestly expect CSN to buy WGN's current portion and air the full Cubs schedule. That's been the trend lately for teams to have exclusive mega-deals with a single RSN, so I expect the same to happen here.

 

If this was anywhere else, I would agree with you 100%.

 

But I want y'all to take a look at teams and their OTA contracts and the leaders in this category

  • Chicago Cubs on WGN (also WCIU) is at 75 games
  • Los Angeles Dodgers on KCAL is at 54 games
  • Chicago White Sox on WGN (also WCIU) is at 51 games
  • Philadelphia Phillies on WPHL is at 45 games (in tandem with the Comcast Network)

Every other team that has an Over The Air contract with a respective Television station is from anywhere with 4-25 games on their respective contracts. For WGN, they literally get a money truck of advertising revenue every season for the Cubs and White Sox games.

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If this was anywhere else, I would agree with you 100%.

 

But I want y'all to take a look at teams and their OTA contracts and the leaders in this category

  • Chicago Cubs on WGN (also WCIU) is at 75 games
  • Los Angeles Dodgers on KCAL is at 54 games
  • Chicago White Sox on WGN (also WCIU) is at 51 games
  • Philadelphia Phillies on WPHL is at 45 games (in tandem with the Comcast Network)

Every other team that has an Over The Air contract with a respective Television station is from anywhere with 4-25 games on their respective contracts. For WGN, they literally get a money truck of advertising revenue every season for the Cubs and White Sox games.

 

I WANT A MONEY TRUCK!!!

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If this was anywhere else, I would agree with you 100%.

 

But I want y'all to take a look at teams and their OTA contracts and the leaders in this category

  • Chicago Cubs on WGN (also WCIU) is at 75 games
  • Los Angeles Dodgers on KCAL is at 54 games
  • Chicago White Sox on WGN (also WCIU) is at 51 games
  • Philadelphia Phillies on WPHL is at 45 games (in tandem with the Comcast Network)

Every other team that has an Over The Air contract with a respective Television station is from anywhere with 4-25 games on their respective contracts. For WGN, they literally get a money truck of advertising revenue every season for the Cubs and White Sox games.

 

Well, the Dodgers are leaving KCAL for an exclusive deal with Time Warner Cable Sportsnet starting next season.
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Well, the Dodgers are leaving KCAL for an exclusive deal with Time Warner Cable Sportsnet starting next season.

Not quite. They have come to a deal with TWC, but the two will co-own a brand-new RSN called SportsNet LA.

Overkill, IMHO, with Time Warner Cable SportsNet (the home of the Lakers), but money talks.

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Not quite. They have come to a deal with TWC, but the two will co-own a brand-new RSN called SportsNet LA.

Overkill, IMHO, with Time Warner Cable SportsNet (the home of the Lakers), but money talks.

 

Oh that's right, I remember reading about that and thinking how stupid of an idea it is considering Time Warner Cable Sportnet is barely getting off the ground with just the Lakers and...uh...nothing else of importance? on that network.
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