Chicago’s Marquee Sports Network will be the latest regional sports network moving to a more premium and expensive tier on Comcast’s Xfinity cable systems.
On Monday, Comcast began informing customers in the Chicago area that Marquee Sports Network, the television home of the Chicago Cubs, will be moving to the company’s “Ultimate TV” tier on October 1, after the MLB regular season concludes. The Chicago Sun-Times‘ Jeff Agrest first reported the likelihood of the move in February.
The move is consistent with Comcast’s wider strategy surrounding regional sports networks across the country. In recent years, as Comcast’s current distribution deals with regional sports networks expire, the company is giving channels two options: move to the higher tier, or be dropped from Xfinity’s offerings entirely.
Most have opted to join the higher tier at the risk of upsetting fans that will have to shell out about $20 more per month in most markets to keep access to the network. Some, however, have entered into testy carriage disputes causing blackouts for local fans. So far, the only network to have avoided getting bumped to the higher tier after said negotiations is YES Network, who seemingly got an assist from FCC chair Brendan Carr. That deal, however, was a short-term agreement that will likely see the two sides back at square one in short order.
Comcast’s strategy is an indication of the economic realities of the regional sports network business in 2025. Whereas the channels were once a staple of basic cable, able to fund their costly rights fees through widespread distribution and the lucrative per subscriber fees that came with it, cord-cutting has forced both sides to buckle down.
Regional sports networks are some of the most expensive channels for distributors to carry, so many pay TV providers like Comcast are opting to move them to higher tiers, ensuring that distribution of those channels are targeted towards sports fans that will actually watch them, rather than basic cable subscribers that aren’t interested in their local teams. With fewer subscribers on the higher tiers, regional sports networks earn less carriage revenue from distributors. In some cases, that has directly translated to lower rights fees for franchises.
Cubs fans will be the latest to feel the brunt of these changing economics next season.
About Drew Lerner
Drew Lerner is a staff writer for Awful Announcing and an aspiring cable subscriber. He previously covered sports media for Sports Media Watch. Future beat writer for the Oasis reunion tour.