Ricketts Looking To Maximize Cubs Broadcasting Rights When Current Deal Expires
By Chuck Sudo in News on Feb 18, 2013 4:40PM
Baseball season is just around the corner and the Tribune’s Paul Sullivan wrote a couple of interesting articles over the weekend about the Cubs’ broadcasting contract with WGN.
The club’s current deal with WGN runs through the 2014 season. Cubs chairman Tom Ricketts told Sullivan the team would explore its options in maximizing television revenue when the contract expires and would begin discussing rights fees this year.
"Obviously local media rights have been increasing in value," he said. "Hopefully at some point we will be able to get more value for our media rights. It's just something that's playing out over time."
The Cubs’ relationship with WGN dates back to 1948. The 1983 arrival of Harry Caray, along with WGN’s presence on cable systems across the country and the Cubs playing all their home games during the day back then, catapulted the team into the hearts of people across the country and boosted the value of the club. It didn’t hurt that the Cubs were also owned by Tribune Co.; everything stayed under the same corporate umbrella.
But the Cubs have moved more of their games to Comcast SportsNet in recent years (the team’s contract with CSN runs through 2019). Ricketts knows the rights fees to Cubs games, even with a rebuilding team, are going to be a lucrative property. Sullivan writes Ricketts is looking into the team having its own network, like the New York Yankees’ YES Network and the recent deal between Time Warner Cable and the Los Angeles Dodgers, and have even filmed interviews with legendary players to be used in programming, should that become a reality.
The Cubs’ current broadcasting contract with WGN also may have factored into former television analyst Bob Brenly’s decision to sign with Arizona to become their color commentator. Brenly told Sullivan he was thisclose to re-uppping with the Cubs, but didn’t because his contract wasn’t guaranteed past 2014.
“Long story short, we thought we had a deal done, and actually went out and celebrated with my family and ran up a pretty good tab at Joe’s (Stone Crabs).“Woke up the next morning and there were some issues with the contract. One thing led to another and that kind of opened up negotiations with the Diamondbacks and it rolled downhill quickly. The Diamondbacks were willing to give me the years and the money that WGN and Comcast (Sports Net) could just not guarantee. Not a bad Plan B.”