Faced with a major TV blackout in Chicago in a little more than a month, the Cubs today signed what they’re calling a “blockbuster” agreement to broadcast games on WGN.
“Our goal is to expose our product to as many fans as possible,” said Crane Kenney the team’s president of business operations. “Even if we aren’t making $7 a month per subscriber, we are okay with that.”
The team’s decision comes after their failure to secure a broadcast deal for their new Marquee Sports Network with Comcast, the largest carrier in Chicago. Kenney said WGN was a great spot for Cubs games.
“I’ve always been a big fan of WGN,” said Kenney. “It just feels like a good place to broadcast our games.”
One complication is that WGN now has signed some conflicting programming deals, which will force Cubs games to other channels from time to time.
“We have a big agreement in place to broadcast ‘The Andy Griffith Show,’ ‘The Dick Van Dyck Show,’ ‘Hogan’s Heros,’ and a reboot of ‘The Bozo Show,'” said WGN’s GM Peter Guidry. “There are going to be some times where we can move around this stellar lineup to accommodate the Cubs schedule.”
Guidry added that in those cases, fans will be able to find Cubs games on NBC-Sports Chicago, ABC-7, NBC-Sports Chicago+, and other channels.
Added Guidry: “It’s a shame we nixed CLTV because that would be have a great place for Cubs games.”
