The White Sox open the season Thursday afternoon against the Los Angeles Angels at Rate Field, but barring an 11th hour breakthrough, a million Chicago-area Comcast subscribers may not be able to see the game.
While negotiations between the nascent Chicago Sports Network and Comcast are ongoing, they have yet to reach a carriage agreement, leading to a likely blackout for the White Sox on opening day.
Too early to invoke the time-honored Chicago sports mantra of “wait until next year,” Comcast subscribers may have to switch to another pay-TV provider, sign up for a streaming service or buy a TV antenna to watch the White Sox start the 2025 season.
Spokespersons for Comcast and CHSN reported no updates on the progress of the carriage negotiations on the eve of Opening Day. That has been an all-too-familiar refrain for frustrated Comcast viewers since the regional sports network, the successor to NBC Sports Chicago, launched in October as the new TV home of the Bulls, Blackhawks and White Sox.
A joint venture between the three teams and Nashville-based Standard Media, CHSN went live from the jump on pay-TV platforms DirecTV and Astound, and over the air on WJYS-Ch. 62 in Chicago. It subsequently added streaming service FuboTV and rolled out its own direct-to-consumer streaming app, but has struck out so far with Comcast.
That has turned the network’s inaugural Bulls and Blackhawks campaigns into a lost season for many Chicago-area viewers, who have missed some entertaining action. While both teams have losing records, the young Bulls are coming on strong, winning 8 of their last 10 games on a promising late-season run toward the playoffs.
The White Sox, coming off the most losses in a season in major league history, are scheduled to begin anew against the Los Angeles Angels at 3:10 p.m. Thursday at Rate Field. But Comcast subscribers may not be able to see a single White Sox win this season, despite the fresh start on the field.
Meanwhile the Cubs, who opened the season last week with a pair of losses to the Los Angeles Dodgers in Tokyo, begin their stateside schedule Thursday night at the Arizona Diamondbacks. Comcast subscribers will be able to see the Cubs on Marquee Sports Network, despite a similar carriage impasse with the cable giant.
Marquee, which launched in 2020, has remained on Comcast through a series of short-term extensions after its inaugural carriage agreement expired Sept. 30. A Marquee spokesperson did not return a request for comment this week.
Sources familiar with the negotiations said Comcast is looking to move both Marquee and CHSN to its more expensive Ultimate tier, something it has done with other regional sports networks across the U.S. in recent months.
The Ultimate tier costs an additional $20 per month — on top of the $20.25 regional sports network fee Comcast charges Chicago-area subscribers each month. Comcast has been issuing a monthly $8.85 credit to partially offset that fee during the ongoing carriage negotiations with CHSN.
CHSN has agreed to move to the Ultimate tier, and has essentially come to terms on the carriage fee, but Comcast is looking to first complete a new deal with Marquee, according to sources familiar with the negotiations.
While the competing networks may be negotiating similar deals with Comcast, Marquee remains on the air, at least for now, while CHSN has yet to crack into the channel lineup.
For Sox fans tired of waiting for Comcast to strike a deal with CHSN, there are alternatives. DirecTV recently rolled out a new local streaming package — MyHome Team — which delivers CHSN and Marquee as a $19.99 per month add-on to its least expensive sports bundle.
Another option may be to remove the middleman and watch CHSN on free TV.
Over-the-air remains a viable option for many Chicagoans after CHSN worked out some of the technical bugs that plagued early antenna adopters.
Keith Williams, a Comcast subscriber who lives in north suburban Lake Forest, bought a $70 amplified indoor antenna in September as a backup for when his cable service goes out. The following month it was moved to front-line duty when CHSN failed to launch on Comcast.
The retired former CEO of Underwriters Laboratories said CHSN on WJYS-Ch. 62, and a host of other over-the-air broadcast TV channels, have been coming in loud and clear, thanks to the “paper-thin” indoor antenna that he has hanging in a window.
Williams has been enjoying the Bulls and Blackhawks all winter on free TV, and is planning to watch the White Sox opening game Thursday.
As such, he ostensibly has no skin in the game regarding the regional sports network’s negotiations with Comcast. Williams also has no intention of upgrading to the Ultimate tier if Comcast puts CHSN in the more expensive plan.
“I’m perfectly happy with the quality of the over-the-air broadcast, and so there’s no way that it would make sense for me to pay $15 or $20 a month to get something I’m already getting,” Williams said.
About 15% of the 3.46 million homes in the Chicago market watch TV using an antenna, according to Nielsen. Free TV may be a short-lived solution for CHSN viewers, however.
Sources familiar with negotiations say CHSN’s over-the-air broadcasts remain a stumbling block. In order to strike a pay-TV deal with Comcast, CHSN may have to pull the plug on its free TV broadcasts, sources said.
At the same time, buying an antenna could prove to be a good short-term investment for Comcast subscribers who want to watch the White Sox this season, but aren’t ready to switch to another pay-TV provider.
“Let’s say they charge you $15 per month for the regional sports network, and you pay $60 for your antenna,” Williams said. “After four months, you’re living for free.”
rchannick@chicagotribune.com
