The Cubs’ deal with Hulu means many fans in the Chicago area and parts of the Midwest can watch the team even without Comcast Xfinity, business operations President Crane Kenney said Monday.
“Nice to have Hulu done,” Kenney said Monday morning at the Nike Performance Center. “They’re the largest streaming service in the country and really happy to have Hulu join 30 other distributors to pick up Marquee (Sports) Network.
“That means in addition to DirecTV, which is available in every home in our territory, if you are a cord-cutter, in terms of people potentially being shut out from our games, there is a way … to have our service. We still expect Comcast to carry it, but today, if someone was worried about it, there’s another way of getting our games for the 2020 season.”
Here are five questions — and answers — about the new deal.
1. Does this mean everyone with Hulu can watch the Cubs?
No, only those who subscribe to the Hulu + Live TV service (which starts at $54.99 per month) and live in the Cubs “territory” — which Kenney said covers roughly all of Illinois and Iowa, most of Indiana (to Indianapolis) and “a tiny fraction” of southwest Michigan and southeast Wisconsin — will see the games. He said the Cubs still are negotiating with YouTube TV and other streaming services.
Kenney said they’ve talked to MLB about changing the boundaries. Some cable companies might get Marquee in the future, without the actual games, like the Yankee’s YES Network does on some cable stations.
“You can take non-game programming outside the market,” Kenney said. “We are looking at that.”
That could include features such as highlight shows and “The Ryan Dempster Show”, a monthly talk show hosted by the former Cubs pitcher.
2. Is getting a carriage deal with Comcast no longer a priority for the Cubs?
Kenney said getting a deal done with Comcast is still a priority because the cable giant is the provider for half of Chicago-area homes. He admitted it was unlikely a deal would be struck before Saturday, when Marquee kicks off with the Cubs’ first Cactus League game.
“Pretty difficult, you’d think, here on Monday to get done by Saturday,” he said.
3. Is opening day the real deadline for Comcast?
There is no real deadline, but obviously March 26 is the unofficial deadline.
“Everyone has their own timetable,” Kenney said. “I would think, personally, that opening day would be pretty important to Comcast.”
4. Why won’t the revenues from Marquee boost the Cubs payroll to help keep stars such as Kris Bryant and Javier Baez?
Kenney said there is a “lag effect,” and now the money is being invested into the network’s start-up.
“The revenue doesn’t start until the games are being played,” he said.
Kenney said they wouldn’t know what the revenues will be for at least a year, needing to find out how many outlets will be carrying the network.
“No different than starting out hotels, starting out restaurants,” he said.
Could the Cubs go past the luxury-tax threshold knowing revenues will increase next year because of Marquee? Kenney declined to talk about the player payroll, which is under the control of baseball operations President Theo Epstein.
5. What kind of things we can expect during a telecast?
Marquee has been at spring training filming features for weeks with former Cubs greats Rick Sutcliffe and Mark Grace talking baseball with Kyle Hendricks and Anthony Rizzo, respectively.
“We’re going to do some stuff on the field, including wearing some microphones, maybe even wearing some lipstick cameras to get some unique angles during spring training,” Kenney said. “Which we are allowed to do because it’s our network.”
Will they mic up manager David Ross?
“We’re still talking about who we mic up,” Kenney said.
The Cubs will have a pregame show before Saturday’s Cactus League opener against the Athletics at Sloan Park. A show on the life and career of Mr. Cub, Ernie Banks, will follow the first game.
