The sports network Stadium has had an interesting run over the last seven years. But Awful Announcing has learned that run may be drawing to a close, at least in the form viewers are currently used to.
Specifically, many top Stadium execs have moved over to the forthcoming Chicago Sports Network (which shares some ownership from Jerry Reinsdorf, which we’ll get into below). Stadium’s daily original studio programming shows produced from their Chicago headquarters have been off their lineup this month. That includes The Rally, Inside The Association, and Live On The Line, (the only one to officially announce an ending so far), all of which had also aired on the Bally Sports regional networks in the past.
With those gone, the Stadium daily lineup has become just live and (often) replay events (mostly minor league baseball and MMA) and live shows from Audacy’s BetQL Network they have TV deals for, such as You Better You Bet. It may not stay exactly that way, of course. Around the last Inside The Association show on July 30, co-host Camron Smith teased plans for that show to return in September (although that may be without Shams Charania, who’s reportedly leaving the company).
Notably, the show pages for The Rally and Inside The Association only feature a few shorter video clips this month. Many of those (including the most recent ones) are digital Zoom-style interviews featuring hosts seemingly at their homes, rather than the videos from Stadium’s United Center sets and production facilities we’re more used to seeing. The Rally’s X/Twitter feed has been dark since July 30, with no mention of a hiatus.
There have been a couple of short videos from those facilities this month on some individual show pages. But there have been many less than normal. Even users in Stadium’s frontpage chat are commenting on the current lack of original programming, as this screenshot from Wednesday (when the network was showing the MMA contest Glory 93, which took place more than a month ago on July 20) illustrates.
As per the digital videos on show pages, AA has learned that Stadium content may involve much more of that approach going forward. That comes with those production facilities shifting much or all of their focus over towards Chicago Sports Network. But it’s unclear as of now if the new Stadium content approach will keep shorter clips focus or if full-length shows will return (or if new ones will be launched).
AA understands that many on-air Stadium figures are still under contract with the company, but just what they’ll be asked to do hasn’t yet been specified. There’s been some talk of a focus shift towards betting-focused content, but it’s not confirmed that that will be implemented. (And it’s also not even clear from the outside who’s left at Stadium and who’s in charge. Their website has no one specifically listed, just a general about page and a contact form.) They are still doing some live events, including games from the Savannah Bananas (who signed with them and Bally Live this April) and minor-league baseball games, and their X/Twitter feed has some of that content. However, the only recent studio content tweets are short clips from digital interviews.
Stadium certainly is capable of remote and digital production, with then-president Jason Coyle speaking to AA in 2020 on how they went to a full-remote model then due to COVID-19 concerns. There is a lot of good content created under the remote interview model.
However, it will be harder to make that stand out in a sea of sports podcasts, some of which at this point feature their own elaborate in-person production setups. And if the remote content shift does wind up being the majority or all of Stadium’s programming, that will mark the end of an era for the company.
So who owns the company at this point? Stadium was formed in 2017 out of a joint venture between Sinclair/American Sports Network, Reinsdorf and the Chicago White Sox/Silver Chalice/Campus Insiders, and the 120 Sports joint venture (from Time Inc., Silver Chalice, MLB Advanced Media, and the NHL). While there was often some discussion about integrating Stadium with the Bally Sports (formerly Fox Sports) regional networks after Sinclair bought those in 2019, including in the Coyle interview above, that wound up being very limited. (The financial turmoil and eventual bankruptcy of RSN parent Diamond Sports that saw Sinclair turn those networks over to creditors certainly didn’t help.)
Reinsdorf’s Silver Chalice took majority control of Stadium from Sinclair last May as part of the Diamond bankruptcy reorganization. At that point, Eric Fisher of Front Office Sports wrote that “further, large-scale moves are expected by Stadium in the new Reinsdorf-led structure,” hinting at Reinsdorf’s often-discussed plans to start his own regional sports network (he had 50 percent of NBC Sports Chicago, but the idea of him doing something different had long been out there). That came to fruition this June with the announcement of Chicago Sports Network, but Stadium was left on the outside looking in there.
Chicago Sports Network is also worth more discussion, as it’s a key part of what’s going on at Stadium and will launch in October. It’s a partnership between the White Sox and Bulls (both owned by Reinsdorf), the Blackhawks (owned by the Wirtz Corporation), and Nashville-based Standard Media. Standard Media owns four local affiliates around the U.S. and is a subsidiary of the Standard General hedge fund, which is led by managing partner and chief investment officer Soohyung “Soo” Kim and is the largest shareholder in Bally’s. Bally’s is the title sponsor of those Diamond RSNs and has interests in Stadium, as seen by the Bally flag on their logo.
Much of the reporting leading up to the announcement of Chicago Sports Network suggested that the teams would launch it in partnership with Stadium, with April reports even suggesting that the deal could happen within a week. But that didn’t come to pass, with the teams choosing Standard Media instead.
Despite that, several key Stadium figures moved to the new network this summer. That list includes Coyle (named president of Chicago Sports Network at that June launch, with no replacement named for him as Stadium president), senior vice president (production) Joe Riley (now executive vice president, production, programming, and broadcast operations at the new network), director/technical director/studio coordinator Rusty Gorman (now director of studio operations) and director of studio production Patrick Reilly (now lead studio director). The departure of so many key figures on the studio and production side appears to be a big part of what’s behind this Stadium content shift.
We’ll see exactly how this content shift plays out in the coming weeks, and what that means for Stadium. But it does look like the network is set for major changes. Whatever those changes, many of the people key to its production and programming are no longer there.
