Kenney expects 11th-hour Comcast deal
In the negotiating equivalent of the bottom of the ninth inning, Cubs president of business operations Crane Kenney predicted Thursday that he would nail down a deal with Comcast in time to allow Cubs fans to watch the opener Friday night against the Brewers on Marquee Sports Network.
Kenney said he’s determined to finalize a carriage agreement with the Chicago area’s largest cable provider, even if he has to work through the night and up until the last minute.
When the Cubs launched their own network, Kenney said there were two groups of distributors: those who jumped on the bandwagon early, such as AT&T and DirecTV, to assure their customers they would carry Cubs games and those who chose to hold out in hopes of negotiating better terms.
“This has been a pattern — not just with our station but with stations all over the country,” Kenney told the Chicago Sun-Times. “Unfortunately for our fans, it has been something that, from Day 1, was gonna be the m.o. for Comcast, to hold out until the very last moment.
“I expect the games to be on Comcast . . . in time for Opening Day . . . . The Cubs’ opener has been the catalyst for a lot of deals to get done in my lifetime. And I believe it will be the catalyst to get our deal with Comcast done.”
The monthly fee will be “whatever Comcast elects to charge” its customers, Kenney said. The Cubs have “rates that vary based on your geographic location with Comcast,” but ultimately it’s “their decision how much they want to pass through to subscribers.”
What happens if Kenney is wrong and a deal does not get done in time for the opener? “Certainly, not having carriage on the dominant provider in the market would be a huge negative for our fan base,” Kenney said.