Marquee and Comcast

[chibears55]

Marquee and Comcast deal ends in September, so if a deal doesn't get worked out between Marquee and Comcast the largest cable provider in the Chicago market this could be the end of Marquee.

With this in mind, one would think or hope that the pressure would be on Rickett and Hoyer to do whatever possible to make sure the team is more competitive and in the thick of things by August in order to give Comcast a legitimate reason to extend the contract with Marquee not just to finish out this season but going forward.

So, hopefully maybe, there is a chance that we may see some legitimate upgrades to this roster in July and the Ws will come more often.

[CubinNY]

One thing has nothing to do with the other. 

[javy knows my name]

Let em push out all the rooftops and litter the bleachers with ads, they'll put it back into the team

[Wilson A2000]

Comcast can’t be happy that Marquee can sell direct to customers in Chicago. Going to be a drawn out fight I’d imagine.

Edited June 12, 2024 by Wilson A2000

[Irrelevant Dude]

1 hour ago, Wilson A2000 said:

Comcast can’t be happy that Marquee can sell direct to customers in Chicago. Going to be a drawn out fight I’d imagine.

Or, maybe Comcast is willing to take the hit and lose a chunk of their Cubs fan subscriber base, but ultimately make up for it by not having to pay the Marquee carriage fees.  I tend to think Marquee/Cubs stand to lose a lot more than Comcast does.  Sure, the Cubs will get some customers to convert over to the $20/month direct subscription, but that will never make up for the current per-subscriber rate they are getting from Comcast.

[chibears55]

13 minutes ago, Irrelevant Dude said:

Or, maybe Comcast is willing to take the hit and lose a chunk of their Cubs fan subscriber base, but ultimately make up for it by not having to pay the Marquee carriage fees.  I tend to think Marquee/Cubs stand to lose a lot more than Comcast does.  Sure, the Cubs will get some customers to convert over to the $20/month direct subscription, but that will never make up for the current per-subscriber rate they are getting from Comcast.

Right, why I think it'll be in the best interest of the Cubs for theirs and Marquee sake to make sure they have a winning team in August. 

Comcast not going to negotiate in good faith if the Cubs aren't playing well, cause they won't gain customers that will add Marquee to watch a losing team and will likely lose subscribers to Marquee in September and over the winter.

[Irrelevant Dude]

It is interesting to consider that this pending negotiation could impact the direction of the team at the trade deadline.  If the Cubs are in serious contention, they will buy.  In the unlikely event they are completely out of contention, they will sell.  It is the gray area in the middle that could be influenced by what is happening with Marquee/Comcast.  In a case where they are on the deep fringes of playoff contention and should be a seller, might they try to force the issue in an effort to maintain enough fan interest to support their negotiations even though making the playoffs is extremely unlikely?  I would hope that their trade decisions will made purely from a baseball standpoint, but it wouldn't surprise me at all to have ownership/Crane Kenney pushing for Hoyer to add at the deadline largely for business reasons.

[Wilson A2000]

Any update on this? Isn’t the Marquee-Comcast contrast supposed to end this month?

[Banedon]

It expires in September.  I don't see an exact date, but almost assuredly after the regular season is over.  So then they'll probably negotiate all winter long.  Comcast has very little to lose here.  They'll probably be willing to let Marquee twist in the wind all the way through the spring.  That's when we'll likely see impact.

[Tryptamine]

1 hour ago, Banedon said:

It expires in September.  I don't see an exact date, but almost assuredly after the regular season is over.  So then they'll probably negotiate all winter long.  Comcast has very little to lose here.  They'll probably be willing to let Marquee twist in the wind all the way through the spring.  That's when we'll likely see impact.

The perfect excuse for why they couldn't possibly make an offer to a generationally talented hitter in Soto.

[LBiittner]

28 minutes ago, Tryptamine said:

The perfect excuse for why they couldn't possibly make an offer to a generationally talented hitter in Soto.

Exactly. Couple that excuse with the half billion $ and jeds got it covered

[Rcal10]

1 hour ago, Tryptamine said:

The perfect excuse for why they couldn't possibly make an offer to a generationally talented hitter in Soto.

A deal with Comcast shouldn’t make a difference. With people able to pay for the marquee app on its own I don’t see the Cubs worrying too much about if Comcast picks them up or not. That said, they might use it as an excuse, but really that is all it is. I think if Comcast fights it too much and doesn’t have marquee as one of their channels they will lose a lot of people. I don’t see them having the advantage now that marquee has the app. Why wouldn’t people just cut the cable and stream? YouTube tv is cheaper and even adding the marquee app it is still cheaper than Comcast. 

[Irrelevant Dude]

Has anyone heard anything at all about Marquee and Comcast?  With all the focus on CHSN, it has been crickets about Marquee even though the contract was rumored to be up at the end of the season.