Cubs TV Deal Stuff

[Sammy Sofa]

People outside of Illinois can still see the Cubs without WGN.

[SABR Gamer]

MLB.tv is very affordable. You aren't a Cubs fan if that's a serious argument. If you can't afford it, you aren't affording the trip to Chicago to see a game at Wrigley once this team is good.

[MSG T]

MLB.tv is very affordable. You aren't a Cubs fan if that's a serious argument. If you can't afford it, you aren't affording the trip to Chicago to see a game at Wrigley once this team is good.

 

 

I'll gladly pay it if it means they have truckloads of money to build a WS contender year in and year out.

[Pool]

People outside of Illinois can still see the Cubs without WGN.

 

I know. To me this is about getting games on basic cable in another state & not needing to pay extra.

[Sammy Sofa]

People outside of Illinois can still see the Cubs without WGN.

 

I know. To me this is about getting games on basic cable in another state & not needing to pay extra.

 

But that number has been dwindling for years anyway. The other option that costs more gets you a LOT more games.

[XZero771679666304]

People outside of Illinois can still see the Cubs without WGN.

 

I know. To me this is about getting games on basic cable in another state & not needing to pay extra.

 

But that number has been dwindling for years anyway. The other option that costs more gets you a LOT more games.

 

Yeah, WGN stopped being sufficient for me years and years ago. When it carried most or all of the games, that was one thing, but it's been essentially a handful for a long time now. I've had EI for a long time, but I'm going MLB.tv this year. It's really a good deal, even on a budget.

[SABR Gamer]

People outside of Illinois can still see the Cubs without WGN.

 

I know. To me this is about getting games on basic cable in another state & not needing to pay extra.

 

Is that more important to you than having a better team on the field?

[Pool]

Is that more important to you than having a better team on the field?

 

You're usually top 10 in payroll which means you have the money to win.

[SouthSideRyan]

Is that more important to you than having a better team on the field?

 

You're usually top 10 in payroll which means you have the money to win.

 

Who are you talking to?

[XZero771679666304]

Is that more important to you than having a better team on the field?

 

You're usually top 10 in payroll which means you have the money to win.

 

The Trib doesn't own the team anymore.

 

The end of the Cubs on WGN has been pretty much inevitable for years. It's something that has been easy to see coming as the number of games on the network has dwindled.

 

Now we're talking about sacrificing the very few remaining WGN games in order to gain a big edge in payroll. If what has been said about the Ricketteses finances is true, then it may be necessary if we are to see the team back in the top 5 in payroll in the near future, which is where the market dictates they should be.

 

It's what the other major market teams are doing, and it's what the Cubs have to do. What they are going to do, if not sooner, then later. There's no decision to make here.

 

And FTR, I do n't live anywhere near Chicago anymore, and have been paying extra to see games for many years. The Cubs on WGN isn't nearly the factor that it used to be. Letting those few games stand in the way of a TV mega deal would be idiotic.

[A New Era]

If the Cubs can get 1.5 mil a game just from WGN's share hell you could sign Tanaka, then 2 more Tanaka caliber players and not even dip into poor rickett's pockets.

[Sammys Boombox]

If the Cubs can get 1.5 mil a game just from WGN's share hell you could sign Tanaka, then 2 more Tanaka caliber players and not even dip into poor rickett's pockets.

 

He also won't be Poor Tom Ricketts anymore.

[MSG T]

Is that more important to you than having a better team on the field?

 

You're usually top 10 in payroll which means you have the money to win.

 

 

Maybe I'm remembering wrong, but other than the last 3-4 years of the Trib and the short Zell period, weren't the Cubs generally in the 10-15 range, not the top 10? I mean they may have dipped into the top 10 once in a while, but it was far from every or even most seasons, wasn't it?

[A New Era]

If the Cubs can get 1.5 mil a game just from WGN's share hell you could sign Tanaka, then 2 more Tanaka caliber players and not even dip into poor rickett's pockets.

 

He also won't be Poor Tom Ricketts anymore.

 

I hope he is, that would mean he is spending every last cent of the TV money on high impact players like Tanaka. I was just joking. (If Tom Ricketts is too poor to sign players at least TV money Tom Ricketts won't be).

[ctcf]

Mark Gonzales @MDGonzales

Crane: announcement on TV rights could come before opening day.

[Hairyducked Idiot]

Mark Gonzales @MDGonzales

Crane: announcement on TV rights could come before opening day.

 

Yeah, this is happening. Unless this becomes one of those stupid things where something seems almost done forever and then somehow falls apart. And surely we're all out of those, right? :beg:

[Ryne Ween]

What is exciting about this? The fact that the cubs will get market revenue for their tv rights shouldn't surprise or excite. They got lucky buying the team in '09 that the tv deals are falling into live sport promoters laps. They have owned 25% of Comcast chicago snce then they ALREADY own a substantial portion of a large station that airs games for tham and 3 other hugely popular sports franchises. A monkey would go out and get the best deal available in the market. Lets not act like this tv deal is some white knight riding in or that we have some john d rockefeller business genius running the team. I dont care what the tv deal is. Give me a [expletive] baseball team right now. Not a tv deal. First its video board and jumbotron revenue then its a hotel then its a party deck a public bond an entertainment tax tripped covenant rosemont naples IFA money leveraged partnership overslotting and now tv deal. They have 5 years now and 3 for theo. They have had a competitive advantage for that entire time. It doesnt start with a tv deal or a videotron or an amusement park in lakeview or sky harbor. I have never heard of a franchise with so many inherent advantages complain so much about all these challenges basically characteristic of owning any team and not exploiting the very obvious advantages to owning this particular team.

 

We are in a division in which every other team is in the bottom 10 by metro-area (3 of the bottom 5). This has always been the case. Just because we have always been run by idiots who cant exploit that doesnt mean that we still arent run by idiots. So the tv market swung wildly in ricketts' direction and hes is not too stupid to not get out of the way. Great hes liekly gonna make a fortune on this team but we all knew that already. Are they gonna take the tv money and give us all our money back for the seasons of [expletive] and burned tickets when they punted or are they gonna spend 50 more million on the payroll now like they should have been doing anyway all along.

[Sammy Sofa]

What is exciting about the team making a [expletive]-ton more money?

 

Really?

[Ryne Ween]

double post. Edited January 18, 2014 by Ryne Ween

[Hairyducked Idiot]

The TV deal doesn't change my mind that Ricketts isn't that great of an owner. It just makes that fact less important.

[Sammy Sofa]

Uhhhhhh.

[Guest]

What is exciting about this? The fact that the cubs will get market revenue for their tv rights shouldn't surprise or excite. They got lucky buying the team in '09 that the tv deals are falling into live sport promoters laps. They have owned 25% of Comcast chicago snce then they ALREADY own a substantial portion of a large station that airs games for tham and 3 other hugely popular sports franchises. A monkey would go out and get the best deal available in the market. Lets not act like this tv deal is some white knight riding in or that we have some john d rockefeller business genius running the team. I dont care what the tv deal is. Give me a [expletive] baseball team right now. Not a tv deal. First its video board and jumbotron revenue then its a hotel then its a party deck a public bond an entertainment tax tripped covenant rosemont naples IFA money leveraged partnership overslotting and now tv deal. They have 5 years now and 3 for theo. They have had a competitive advantage for that entire time. It doesnt start with a tv deal or a videotron or an amusement park in lakeview or sky harbor. I have never heard of a franchise with so many inherent advantages complain so much about all these challenges basically characteristic of owning any team and not exploiting the very obvious advantages to owning this particular team.

 

We are in a division in which every other team is in the bottom 10 by metro-area (3 of the bottom 5). This has always been the case. Just because we have always been run by idiots who cant exploit that doesnt mean that we still arent run by idiots. So the tv market swung wildly in ricketts' direction and hes is not too stupid to not get out of the way. Great hes liekly gonna make a fortune on this team but we all knew that already. Are they gonna take the tv money and give us all our money back for the seasons of [expletive] and burned tickets when they punted or are they gonna spend 50 more million on the payroll now like they should have been doing anyway all along.

 

Interesting.

[davell]

Mark Gonzales @MDGonzales

Crane: announcement on TV rights could come before opening day.

 

Did Gonzalez mistake the TV and radio rights here? Because I didn't see anything about TV rights from anyone else on Twitter, talking about it like that.

 

Things I've seen were they're still in talks with WGN, but conceded its possible they'd leave after 2014. That's basically it.

[Ryne Ween]

What is exciting about the team making a [expletive] more money?

 

Really?

 

Again they already own 25% of comcast. They are already getting the margin on margin benefit of tv money from bulls, hawks, themselves on a platform that they OWN. That is an advantage that few team have. This has been the case for the past 5 years (i think the worst 5 year stretch in franchise history but i havent looked to see for sure). So next year they get whats coming to them with the big tv money that everybody seems to be getting.

 

I am saying, there is zero reason for us to wait for something like this to be a competitive team. They have advantages already. They havent been using them. All i hear are excuses always and some more can-kicking with the tv deal.

[Sammy Sofa]

Do you not realize the difference between the rumored Fox numbers and the Comcast numbers?