The White Sox are nearly one month into their 162-game slate, but it doesn't seem like they're any closer to getting their Chicago Sports Network broadcasts on Comcast/Xfinity than the Blackhawks and Bulls, who went their entire seasons without distribution on Chicagoland's biggest pay-TV provider.
There aren't yet ratings for White Sox games -- and the team probably won't disclose streaming numbers, either -- but if they're anything like what the Sports Business Journal reported for the Blackhawks this week, it could be a financial bloodbath:
Many U.S.-based NHL clubs saw local game audiences drop this season, whether that be RSN or over-the-air distribution.
The sharpest drops came in two of the three biggest markets in the country. The Blackhawks had the biggest decline, down 78% this season on the team’s new RSN, Chicago Sports Network (co-owned alongside the Bulls and White Sox). But leaving NBC Sports Chicago for an RSN that has not gotten distribution with Comcast in the market meant a loss of just over 40,000 homes per game this season for the Blackhawks.
The Athletic's Scott Powers was able to relay a response from Blackhawks chairman Danny Wirtz:
“At the end of the day, the availability of our games on TV this past season was unacceptable — and our fans deserve better,” Wirtz said. “I am focused on finding potential solutions for next season with our partners at CHSN. We are about to celebrate 100 years of hockey as well as usher in the next generation on the ice. I am committed to ensuring our fans can see that.”
Two potential workarounds have surfaced recently. The Sun-Times' Jeff Agrest reported that WGN sees an opportunity to air CHSN broadcasts, saying that while Chicago's Very Own doesn't have the resources to pay the typical rights fees, it can offer universal distribution and marketing. That leaves it up to the teams to decide how much they want to work for exposure, but the Sox and Hawks aren't in a position to dare fans to ignore them.
The lack of on-field success could also hamper attempts to pressure Comcast from other directions. The Federal Communications Commission was at least peripherally involved in the discussion between the Yankees and Comcast, as the YES Network was nearly dropped from the basic tier before reaching an agreement at the end of March. Naturally, Jerry Reinsdorf met with FCC Chairman Brendan Carr two weeks ago...
Appreciated the chance to visit with Chicago White Sox and Chicago Bulls owner Jerry Reinsdorf today.
— Brendan Carr (@BrendanCarrFCC) April 10, 2025
Enjoyed the discussion! pic.twitter.com/ahC3bw0XYk
... but the Tribune's Robert Channick wrote that Reinsdorf probably has significantly less leverage.
[Chicago-based sports marketing consultant Marc] Ganis said CHSN and the White Sox have a lot less leverage than YES and the Yankees, who have a winning tradition, a larger fan base and big TV ratings.
“The big difference is how many people watch Yankee games in New York — it’s hundreds of thousands,” Ganis said. “It’s very different than the number of people who watch White Sox games in Chicago, even when they were on Comcast.”
None of this bodes well for further investment in the on-field product. The only reward is a strange sort-of satisfaction in seeing Reinsdorf trying to sell the value proposition to more powerful parties than White Sox fans, and being met with crickets.
Spare Parts
Chris Getz's emphasis on more aggressive baserunning makes a little more sense when considering the league is continuing to push the envelope with stealing bases, especially second. It just falls a little flat when the White Sox have bigger problems reaching first.
The Angels have eschewed the concept of "getaway day" long enough that Hawk Harrelson's grumbling was how I learned about it, but it usually only takes a toll on opponents who have to travel two or three time zones after a night game. This time, the Angels are the ones who have to hit the road, giving the old complaints a new flavor.
As somebody who has been baffled by Sports Illustrated's online strategy -- a mix of standard fan blogging and content farming with strange syntax occasionally flooding news searches -- this story by Alex Shultz details the shift. It doesn't explain how it's going to pay off, but since I'm familiar with one of the decision-markers involved in SI's online rebranding from my past career, I don't expect there to be one.
With the future of the Rays in Tampa Bay unclear -- their current ownership backed out of a stadium deal in St. Petersburg, which could prompt league pressure to sell -- the Orlando Dreamers announced that it has made major steps toward financing the acquisition of an MLB team.
Rob Manfred spoke at a sports conference in Nashville, and while he wouldn't oversell the specific promise of the Music City ...
"It almost goes without saying at this point that Nashville's a candidate, and a good candidate," Manfred told reporters after his panel. "I have learned that saying too much about any potential expansion candidate sets off a chain of phone calls from everybody. So I'm just going to leave it there."
... he reiterated that he sees it as a location for an expansion team, and not relocation.
One advantage to keeping every team where they are? Manfred wouldn't have to speak about the fan experience, because it continues to be an alien concept. In the latest episode of letting the mask slip, he said that Dodgers fans who couldn't afford tickets could simply attend Angels games instead.
This is no simple misunderstanding from Manfred, either. This is how his brain works when it comes to fandom. When Yahoo! Sports asked the commissioner in February of 2024 “how the league plans to maintain a presence in Oakland after the A’s leave town,” Manfred responded with, “First of all, we do have a major-league team in the Bay Area. It’s not like there is not an available option. The Giants obviously still play there.” Jesus Christ, Rob. Move the Cubs out of Chicago and tell the North Siders left behind to go to White Sox games, why don’t you? Don’t worry, Mets fans, if the franchise ever packs its bags and leaves, you can always root for the Yankees. Baseball is baseball, isn’t it?
