Comcast, Chicago Sports Network at Odds as Blackhawks fans miss games

Chicago’s newest sports network is not yet available to Comcast subscribers.

Despite launching on October 1, Chicago Sports Network (CHSN) has not reached a distribution agreement with the largest cable provider in the Chicago area. As a result, Blackhawks fans with Comcast have missed the NHL team’s first two local telecasts on the new network and could miss at least one more as the team plays in Calgary on Tuesday night. To make matters worse, the Bulls will begin their regular season on October 23rd in New Orleans.

Carriage disputes are not uncommon, as both media companies and multichannel distribution companies attempt to use sports as either a carrot or a stick in negotiations. The current poor state of Chicago sports doesn’t help this argument, although there is still excitement surrounding Blackhawks second-year sensation Connor Bedard and the return of Lonzo Ball to the Bulls lineup for the first time in nearly two years .

According to a report dated October 12 in The athleteComcast wants to integrate CHSN into one of its more expensive cable packages in a deal similar to what Diamond Sports Group ultimately agreed to for its Bally Sports RSNs. For its part, CHSN agreed to take a lower rights fee from Comcast, but doesn’t want to end up on the more expensive plans.

In addition, even if CHSN is shown on broadcast television, it must enter into retransmission agreements with cable operators, satellite companies and similar video distribution partners in order to carry it on their systems.

CHSN did not respond to requests for comment.

CHSN was formed to distribute Blackhawks, Bulls and White Sox games after those teams decided not to renew their contracts with regional carrier NBC Sports Chicago, which were officially canceled on September 30. (White Sox games will end, for better or worse) CHSN is a joint venture between the three teams and Standard Media, a private company in Nashville that owns local television stations in Rhode Island, Nebraska, Missouri and Kentucky.

According to Nielsen, Chicago is the third largest media market in the United States with 3.7 million television households. Ideally, the network would have greater reach as a free over-the-air option than in the paywalled world of cable. Hoping to reach fans who don’t subscribe to cable or satellite, CHSN is still negotiating with other multichannel video programming distributors such as Fubo and Hulu. It is currently available on DirecTV, DirecTV Stream, U-Verse and Astound (the new name for RCN).

Chicago isn’t the only market in conflict with Comcast. The country’s largest cable provider is also at loggerheads with Scripps’ Salt Lake City affiliate, Utah 16, which will provide local broadcasts for the Utah Hockey Club. Currently, DirecTV is the only multichannel provider that has an agreement with Utah 16.