The Cubs Would Like Their Own Network

We've seen it work with baseball teams before, as the Yankees, Red Sox, and Mets all have their own television networks in YES, NESN, and SNY respectively. It turns out, if you play in a market large enough to support such a move, owning your own network is a nice way to bring revenue into the club.

It also turns out that teams and owners like making money, so when the chance to start their own station presents itself, organizations are going to give it some strong consideration. The latest team to toy with they idea? Why, it's the Chicago Cubs.

A new channel devoted to the Cubs is one of the enticing potential revenue-generating items that Tribune Co. is floating as part of its planned sale of the Chicago Cubs, Wrigley Field and its 25 percent stake in Comcast SportsNet.

So far, the media company has provided few financial details about Comcast SportsNet in the confidential briefing books it provided to prospective buyers, making it difficult to calculate a price tag for the channel, according to sources familiar with the documents, who asked not to be identified because the sales process is ongoing. Opening bids for the team are due by Friday.

But Tribune Co. also planted a seed of opportunity with prospective buyers. After Comcast SportsNet's rights to broadcast Cub games expires in 2019, a new owner could create a new sports network dedicated to the Cubs.

As you just read, the move is still a ways off as the Cubs current television contract runs through 2019, but that's not the only stumbling block in this potential move. The Cubs currently broadcast 70 of their games each season on WGN, which happens to be owned by the Tribune Company, and there's no way of knowing whether the Tribune Company will make the new owner continue broadcasting on WGN.

There's also the fact that a Cubs only network would have nothing to broadcast once October rolls around and the Cubs enter their off season. Are they just going to play a continuous loop of "Go Cubs Go" for six months? Maybe they can give Ronnie Woo-Woo his own talk show. Or how about a Cribs-like show that takes us into the player's homes? That could be interesting. We'd get a chance to see the glass case that Ron Santo keeps all his toupees in.