Latest Marquee Network rumors puts watching Chicago Cubs Opening Day in jeopardy

Here we go again. They say there are three guarantees in life: Death. Taxes. Chicago’s teams in the middle of TV contract disputes. According to Jesse Rogers on ESPN 1000’s Waddle & Silvy show, we may be headed toward another standstill between Marquee and the city’s leading cable provider, Xfinity.

“Bottom line, I will tell you. I don’t have all the details but there’s a lot of TV things going on under the surface. Marquee and Xfinity are having issues. I don’t know if Marquee is going to be on Xfinity come Opening Day.”

It seems like just yesterday, Marquee launched as an exciting new outlet for all things Cubs baseball, among other programming, including Chicago Sky basketball and Chicago Red Stars soccer. However, the original deal expired at the end of the year, per Robert Channick in a recent Chicago Tribune article (subscription required).

Chicago sports fans are no strangers to the headaches these holdouts cause. It’s not like the Chicago Sports Network (CHSN) is going off without a hitch, they are still only exclusively available on DirecTV, U-Verse, and Astound. Half of the Bulls and Blackhawks’ respective seasons have been missed, with no light at the end of the tunnel before the White Sox get underway.

As many consumers continue to cut the cord, networks and teams are exploring the direct-to-consumer model while offering limited carriage options elsewhere, forcing many customers into having an additional monthly fee to watch their favorite teams. Marquee is currently available in a direct-to-consumer setup at $19.99 per month.

Thankfully, Comcast offered credits for the rocky transition from NBC Sports Chicago to CHSN, according to Jeff Agrest at the Chicago Sun-Times (subscription required).

With ownership and upper management recently catching flack for conservative spending, this adds yet another disconnect between Tom Ricketts and Cubs fans. When Marquee first launched in 2020, many similar carriage issues occurred to put Opening Day in jeopardy. The season was ultimately available to watch on several providers after being delayed due to the pandemic.

There’s still a lot of details to delve through and negotiations are ongoing but without clarity about the status of the upcoming season, this news leaves a sour taste in the mouths of many.