Accounting for the recent trend toward “cord-cutting,” Marquee Sports announced plans to launch a direct-to-consumer streaming service, enabling viewers to watch Chicago Cubs games without paying for a cable or satellite subscription. While details remain scarce, the service could be available as soon as next month, according to Cubs President of Business Operations Crane Kenney.
“To reach our fans that have cut the cord, we’re introducing a streaming service this year,” Kenney revealed to 670 The Score. “We’re aiming for July, sometime after the All-Star break, to bring a service for those who say I cut the cord, I don’t have Fubo—which we are available on—but I’d like to buy Marquee individually, just the channel, to see Cubs games.”
Owned by the Cubs in conjunction with Diamond Sports Group, the latter a subsidiary of Sinclair Broadcast Group, Marquee Sports Network debuted in 2020, taking over as the team’s exclusive broadcast partner after previously airing games on WGN, NBC Sports Chicago and ABC 7.
The Cubs join the Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees as early adopters of the direct-to-consumer model. Those teams offer paid monthly subscriptions on NESN and YES, respectively. Five teams also have DTC deals with Bally Sports Plus, and the San Diego Padres have their own DTC deal through MLB.tv.
This could be a smart pivot for the Cubs, who have experienced declining viewership of late. That’s a product of both the team’s irrelevance (one playoff appearance since 2019) and the prevailing cord-cutting phenomenon with streaming and “a la carte” services emerging as legitimate threats to cable.
Marquee’s announcement comes at a fascinating time with RSNs (regional sports networks) facing significant uncertainty, left reeling from industry developments including Diamond Sports Group’s recent bankruptcy filing. That’s led to the MLB.tv changes for the Padres (in addition to their linear broadcasts now being produced by MLB on new channels). And the Arizona Diamondbacks may follow suit in the coming weeks.
“We’re taking our time to make sure this thing is exactly right,” expressed Kenney, as transcribed by Jeff Agrest of the Chicago Sun-Times. “In terms of the quality of the program, the type of program, pricing, marketing, ease of access so it’s available on all devices, whether it’s Roku, a hand-held, etc.”
Marquee’s broadcast territory include Greater Chicago, Iowa, Eastern and Central Nebraska, parts of Michigan, Southern Wisconsin and the majority of Indiana.
