Blackhawks, Bulls face residual effects from Chicago Sports Network's limited carriage

Carriage disputes happen in sports television. You’d be hard-pressed to find a market that hasn’t been affected by one.

But they’ve been rare in Chicago. The last time a cable or satellite provider dropped a local sports channel was when Dish Network dumped NBC Sports Chicago in October 2019. I remember it well because shortly after, I dumped Dish Network for Comcast’s Xfinity cable. I don’t mess around.

The next year, Comcast delayed picking up Marquee Sports Network, but the effect on Cubs fans was minimal. They missed a few weeks of spring-training games before the pandemic put the season on hold. Marquee ultimately appeared on Xfinity in time for the Cubs’ opener in July.

Since then, Chicago sports fans who rely on linear TV have been able to watch their teams uninterrupted. That is, until Chicago Sports Network, the new home of the White Sox, Bulls and Blackhawks, came along.

Though it appeared on DirecTV, DirecTV Stream and U-Verse at launch Oct. 1, and Astound/RCN shortly after, CHSN remains dark on Comcast, which covers roughly half of the market. It was nice of the network to make its signal available over the air, but that wasn’t intended to be CHSN’s primary means of distribution, nor will most viewers accept it as such.

In fact, the gesture might be backfiring on the network in its dealings with Comcast negotiators, who must wonder why they’re being asked to pay for carriage when CHSN is offering its programming for free. The network knew it would be a challenge to make those financials work, and it had to know that Comcast would insist on placing the channel in its highest, most expensive programming tier.

Alas, CHSN exists only in the minds of most Chicago sports fans, even as the Hawks played their home opener Thursday night. And in a sign of the state of talks between CHSN and Comcast, the network posted a graphic on social media Thursday that implored fans to “contact Xfinity and demand that they carry CHSN immediately,” with three means of doing so.

The timing of this … not blackout, but unavailability, couldn’t be worse. The Hawks risk losing the momentum they’ve built since drafting Connor Bedard. After an offseason in which they finally made efforts to improve the team, it all could go for naught in fans’ eyes if they can’t see it. For a franchise whose standing in the market has receded, it risks being not only out of sight but out of mind.

The Bulls still have the cache of being the Bulls, but that only goes so far. Consider: The Hawks will appear on national TV/streaming 15 times this season across ESPN and TNT platforms. The Bulls are scheduled for exactly ZERO national-TV appearances. All 82 regular-season game are scheduled to air on CHSN. Unless you’re a techie fiddling with a VPN or pirating the broadcast, there are no alternatives.

Not that the Bulls have earned much more attention from fans than the Hawks. Both teams have lost enough games to make fans question whether it’s worth dropping hundreds of dollars to go to the United Center. So now, not only is it expensive to go to a game, it’s difficult for many to watch one on TV. Combine limited access with limited winning, and you have two business operations in trouble.

Perhaps the popularity of the NBA will spark an agreement before the Bulls’ season opener Wednesday. But don’t count on it. In the most remarkable turn of events, Comcast, for once, is under no pressure to appease a sports network. If it was losing enough subscribers for not carrying CHSN, it would carry CHSN. Carriage isn’t a priority until it is.

After not carrying the Big Ten Network when it launched in 2007, Comcast subscriptions plummeted. The next year, BTN appeared on Xfinity systems. That might be what it takes for CHSN to appear on Comcast, unless the network bends to the company’s wishes.

CHSN is in a tough spot, but it’s one they should’ve seen coming.