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White Sox TV Contract and Something Else.


WBWSF

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1) The White Sox TV contract expires at the end of this season. I read a few months ago that they are expected to leave the present TV station that they're on now. Since then nothing has been announced.  It will be curious to see what TV station they go  to and also how many years  the contract it will be. 2) Being a White Sox  season ticket holder has some perks. One of them is you can buy a parking package that costs $18.00 a game. I think its a wonderful deal. Getting in and out of the parking  lots is a breeze regardless of the size of the crowd. That being said I read an article in yesterdays Sun Times about Opening Day at Wrigley Field. They said they're still parking passes for sale  from $75.00 and $150.00 I haven't been there in over 20 years. Where does somebody park there and pay that type of money?

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1 hour ago, WBWSF said:

1) The White Sox TV contract expires at the end of this season. I read a few months ago that they are expected to leave the present TV station that they're on now. Since then nothing has been announced.  It will be curious to see what TV station they go  to and also how many years  the contract it will be. 2) Being a White Sox  season ticket holder has some perks. One of them is you can buy a parking package that costs $18.00 a game. I think its a wonderful deal. Getting in and out of the parking  lots is a breeze regardless of the size of the crowd. That being said I read an article in yesterdays Sun Times about Opening Day at Wrigley Field. They said they're still parking passes for sale  from $75.00 and $150.00 I haven't been there in over 20 years. Where does somebody park there and pay that type of money?

Speaking with someone who has been involved with this situation they have told me what is being discussed is potentially starting their own network, none of the traditional broadcast network stations in Chicago have much interest. The Sox, Bulls and Hawks would go to that network. The other option is to stay with Comcast Sports Chicago.

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13 minutes ago, Lip Man 1 said:

Speaking with someone who has been involved with this situation they have told me what is being discussed is potentially starting their own network, none of the traditional broadcast network stations in Chicago have much interest. The Sox, Bulls and Hawks would go to that network. The other option is to stay with Comcast Sports Chicago.

They pretty much have their own network now. What would be the advantage of severing ties with NBC/Comcast?

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5 minutes ago, CentralChamps21 said:

They pretty much have their own network now. What would be the advantage of severing ties with NBC/Comcast?

Larger piece of the pie I’m guessing.

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The risk of course is that as bad as the Sox are, as bad as the Bulls are, as bad as the Hawks are would area cable or steaming systems even be interested in this new channel?

Would this be SportsVision 1982/83 all over again? 

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1 hour ago, Lip Man 1 said:

The risk of course is that as bad as the Sox are, as bad as the Bulls are, as bad as the Hawks are would area cable or steaming systems even be interested in this new channel?

Would this be SportsVision 1982/83 all over again? 

Don't besmirch the good name of Connor Bedard with the two Reinsdorf operated franchises. 

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1 hour ago, Lip Man 1 said:

The risk of course is that as bad as the Sox are, as bad as the Bulls are, as bad as the Hawks are would area cable or steaming systems even be interested in this new channel?

Would this be SportsVision 1982/83 all over again? 

lol no. 

Live sports is the only thing that keeps cable alive. The media market is a tad different than it was in 1982. 

The Cowboys were purchased for 140 million in 1989. They are worth an estimated 9 billion in 2024. 

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8 minutes ago, Tony said:

lol no. 

Live sports is the only thing that keeps cable alive. The media market is a tad different than it was in 1982. 

The Cowboys were purchased for 140 million in 1989. They are worth an estimated 9 billion in 2024. 

There have been numerous examples in the last few years from the Yankees/YES Cablevision dispute to the Dodgers not being available for years to half of Southern California because that cable company refused to pay the fees L.A. was asking.

Even the Marque Network had issues with companies and still does.

Companies today aren't willing to automatically go into paying huge fees even for live sports. Now factor in just how bad those Chicago franchises are and they are going to ask if enough fans would be interested and willing to pay so they could get a decent rate of return. 

Not a slam dunk. 

I did a history of SportsVision for Dr. Fletcher's next White Sox book and one of the big issues with it was the fact the hook up fee was 50 dollars plus area cable companies put it on the tier that cost the most money. At the time Chicago and the nation was going through a bad recession and people didn't have the money to pay that high a price and the Sox were a team on the rise at that time. At best according to Bob Logan in his book, "Miracle On 35th Street: The Story of the 1983 White Sox" at best they had 20,000 subscribers.

Yes the media market is vastly different from 1982 but in some ways it isn't. 

If the Sox/Bulls/Hawks choose to start their own network there will be a risk involved. 

 

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6 hours ago, Lip Man 1 said:

The risk of course is that as bad as the Sox are, as bad as the Bulls are, as bad as the Hawks are would area cable or steaming systems even be interested in this new channel?

Would this be SportsVision 1982/83 all over again? 

Come on. The entire world was off of free TV decades ago.  It was too soon then, but it isn't even a thing in the 21st century. 

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I figured NBC Sports would just go away and Stadium Network would get the rights to the same games and take its place on all the same cable carriers and streaming services.  I would imagine you could get the same/similar carriage fees and the teams wouldn't have to split with Comcast/NBC.  

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39 minutes ago, Nardiwashere said:

I figured NBC Sports would just go away and Stadium Network would get the rights to the same games and take its place on all the same cable carriers and streaming services.  I would imagine you could get the same/similar carriage fees and the teams wouldn't have to split with Comcast/NBC.  

Yep, exactly. I'm wondering if this is why JR is buying up so much property around the UC. Perhaps part of that land goes toward expansion of the Stadium Network's broadcast facilities, which right now occupies a tiny sliver of space inside the United Center: https://chicago.suntimes.com/the-watchdogs/2024/02/22/jerry-reinsdorf-united-center-parking-lots-purchasing-white-sox-south-loop-ballpark

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On 4/2/2024 at 1:37 PM, Lip Man 1 said:

The risk of course is that as bad as the Sox are, as bad as the Bulls are, as bad as the Hawks are would area cable or steaming systems even be interested in this new channel?

Would this be SportsVision 1982/83 all over again? 

Reinsdorf's 'Stadium' network is already on a few streaming platforms. One thinks it becomes that much more desirable if it is the exclusive carrier of Chicago's non-ursine sports teams. I think the "network" had rights to some college sports and distributed it through Facebook. Something tells me we could be watching the White Sox on Twitch in a couple years. 

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