ABC 7 To Broadcast 25 Cubs Games Next Season
By Chuck Sudo in News on Dec 12, 2014 8:30PM
The Chicago Cubs’ gradual divorce from WGN Radio and WGN TV continued Friday with the announcement they reached a deal with WLS TV to broadcast 25 games next season.
The club’s deal with WGN Radio and TV expired at the end of the season and team chairman Tom Ricketts has not been shy about expressing his desire to explore every available option the team has to maximize broadcasting rights. The Cubs will switch their radio home to WBBM Newsradio 780 AM/105.9 FM next season, while the expired deal with WGN TV freed up 70 games for bid. ABC 7 was seen as a dark horse candidate to land any Cubs games. WGN TV was believed to have lost nearly $200,000 per game on Cubs broadcasts last season and did not want to renew the deal at the current rate or higher.
But the Cubs may hold the advantage in negotiations with WGN or other stations moving forward as the recent signings of manager Joe Maddon, pitcher Jon Lester and a developing crop of young talent may have viewers turning on their televisions again to watch the team. Any deal with WLS or another station would be short term as the Cubs’ contract with Comcast SportsNet expires after the 2019 season. At that point the team expects to develop its own regional network similar to the New York Yankees YES Network or the blockbuster deal between the Los Angeles Dodgers and Time Warner Cable. (The deal with ABC 7 runs through 2019.)
Cubs president of business operations Crane Kenney called WLS “a trusted voice in Chicago, and we look forward to a new chapter of Cubs baseball airing on the flagship station of the ABC television network.” He added the ballclub would announce a home for the remaining games soon.