Country | United States |
---|---|
Ownership | |
Owner | Standard Media Chicago Blackhawks Chicago Bulls Chicago White Sox |
Key people | Jason Coyle, CEO |
History | |
Founded | 2024 |
Links | |
Website | chsn |
Chicago Sports Network (CHSN) is an upcoming regional sports network owned by Standard Media, the Chicago Blackhawks, the Chicago Bulls, and the Chicago White Sox. It is expected to launch after the teams' contract with NBC Sports Chicago expires on October 1, 2024.
Chicago's sports teams had originally vacated FSN Chicago in 2004 after Jerry Reinsdorf, Bill Wirtz, and the Tribune Company—the owners of the Bulls, White Sox, Blackhawks, and Cubs respectively—formed a new regional sports network with Comcast known as Comcast SportsNet Chicago (now NBC Sports Chicago). The network would be jointly owned by the four teams, while Comcast would hold a 30% stake and handle operations. [1] [2]
The Cubs departed the network in 2020, forming Marquee with Sinclair Broadcast Group as the exclusive broadcaster of all regional Cubs games (the games had previously been split between NBC Sports Chicago, WGN-TV, and WLS-TV). [3] [4] Concurrently in 2019, NBC Sports Chicago signed a five-year extension with the Blackhawks, Bulls, and White Sox, making it the exclusive home of all three teams through the end of the 2023–24 season. [5] [6] [7]
In April 2024, the Chicago Sun-Times reported that the three teams were in negotiations with Stadium to assume their regional rights after the conclusion of their contract with NBC Sports Chicago. [8] Stadium is owned by the White Sox's investment arm Silver Chalice, and had previously been a joint venture with Sinclair until they sold their stake in 2023. [9] In May 2024, The Athletic subsequently reported an agreement with Standard Media that would involve a newly launched multi-platform regional sports network; [10] the Sun-Times later reported that Standard Media would primarily serve as a funding and distribution partner, and that Stadium was to serve as the teams' new home. [11]
On June 3, 2024, the three teams and Standard Media officially announced Chicago Sports Network; it will be led by former Stadium CEO Jason Coyle. [12] [13] Unlike most regional sports networks, Chicago Sports Network is expected to be made available via over-the-air networks and streaming services along with traditional cable providers. [14]
The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central Division. The team is owned by Jerry Reinsdorf, and plays its home games at Guaranteed Rate Field, located on Chicago's South Side. They are one of two MLB teams based in Chicago, alongside the National League (NL)’s Chicago Cubs.
Fox Sports Networks (FSN), formerly known as Fox Sports Net, was the collective name for a group of regional sports channels in the United States. Formed in 1996 by News Corporation, the networks were acquired by The Walt Disney Company on March 20, 2019, following its acquisition of 21st Century Fox. A condition of that acquisition imposed by the U.S. Department of Justice required Disney to sell the regional networks by June 18, 2019, 90 days after the completion of its acquisition. Disney subsequently agreed to sell the networks to Sinclair; the transaction was completed on August 22, 2019. The networks continued to use the Fox Sports name only under a transitional license agreement while rebranding options were explored. A rebranding cross-partnership with Bally's Corporation took effect on March 31, 2021, and the networks were rebranded as Bally Sports, ending the Fox Sports Networks branding after 25 years.
WGN-TV is an independent television station in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Owned by Nexstar Media Group, it is sister to the company's sole radio property, news/talk/sports station WGN. WGN-TV's studios are located on West Bradley Place in Chicago's North Center community; as such, it is the only major commercial television station in Chicago which bases its main studio outside the Loop. Its transmitter is located atop the Willis Tower in the Loop.
NBC Sports Regional Networks is the collective name for a group of regional sports networks in the United States that are primarily owned and operated by the NBCUniversal division of the cable television company Comcast. The networks were originally established as Comcast SportsNet (CSN), a unit of Comcast's cable television business, beginning with a network in Philadelphia which launched in 1997. Their operations were aligned with the national NBC Sports division following the 2011 acquisition of NBC Universal by Comcast. NBC Sports Regional Networks' business and master control operations are based in Englewood Cliffs, NJ.
Jerry Michael Reinsdorf is an American sports executive and businessman who currently serves as the owner of the NBA's Chicago Bulls and MLB's Chicago White Sox. He started his professional life as a tax attorney with the Internal Revenue Service. He has been the owner of the White Sox and Bulls for over 35 years. As of May 2024, his net worth was estimated at US$2.2 billion.
SportsChannel is the collective name for a former group of regional sports networks in the United States that was owned by Cablevision, which from 1988 until the group's demise, operated it as a joint venture with NBC.
Fox Sports Net Chicago was an American regional sports network that was headquartered in Chicago, Illinois and was owned by Cablevision for most of its history. News Corporation acquired a minority ownership interest in the network in 1997, which Cablevision bought out in 2005. The network was affiliated with SportsChannel from 1987 to 1997, when it became an affiliate of Fox Sports Net.
Sportsvision (SV) was a subscription sports television service founded by Chicago White Sox owners Jerry Reinsdorf and Eddie Einhorn and media mogul Fred Eychaner. The service broadcast live sporting events, and for much of its time of operation was the broadcast network for the Chicago White Sox, Chicago Bulls, Chicago Blackhawks, and Chicago Sting.
NBC Sports Chicago is an American regional sports network that broadcasts regional coverage of professional sports teams in the Chicago metropolitan area, as well as college sports events and original sports-related news, discussion and entertainment programming. It is branded as part of the NBC Sports Regional Networks.
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Several Major League Baseball teams have historically carried their games on superstations, which are broadcast television stations that are distributed on a regional or national basis on cable and satellite television.
WGN Sports was the programming division of WGN-TV, an independent television station located in Chicago, Illinois, United States—which is owned by the Nexstar Media Group—that was responsible for all sports broadcasts on the station, some of which were previously also broadcast on its former national superstation feed, WGN America.
Major League Baseball on NBC Sports Regional Networks refers to Major League Baseball television coverage on the chain of NBC Sports regional networks.
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Marquee Sports Network is a regional sports network operated by Sinclair Broadcast Group and the Chicago Cubs, launched on February 22, 2020. It is devoted exclusively to Cubs baseball, replacing a trio of channels as the exclusive broadcaster of Cubs games not shown on national TV.
Standard Media Group is an American broadcast and digital media company based in Nashville, Tennessee. Standard Media was founded in 2018 by Deborah A. McDermott, who serves as the company's CEO. Previously, McDermott was the chief operating officer of Media General and CEO-president of Young Broadcasting.
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