The president of the Chicago sports network says he’s open to a deal with Comcast, but he’s refusing

Comcast has declined to seriously engage with Chicago Sports Network in negotiations over a carriage deal, CHSN President Jason Coyle said Saturday.

Coyle went on the offensive in a meeting with reporters, saying the network he oversees, the new television home of the Blackhawks, Bulls and White Sox, has made two offers to Comcast/Xfinity but has received zero offers in return .

CHSN’s latest bid proposed a “significant” free reduction compared to what Comcast was previously paying NBC Sports Chicago, Coyle said, but even that didn’t generate traction, though communication between the two sides still ongoing

“We’re willing, in order to make sure more people can watch, take less money,” Coyle said. “We’ve had zero offers to say yes.”

In Illinois and surrounding states, the network is currently available on DirecTV, DirecTV Stream, U-Verse, and Astound/RCN, as well as via an aerial antenna near select cities, including Chicago, Rockford, South Bend, and Indianapolis. . Air service is also expected to begin within the next two weeks in Cedar Rapids, Des Moines, Fort Wayne and several other cities, Coyle said.

Outside of Illinois and surrounding states, Hawks games are available through ESPN+ and Center Ice subscription services, just like last year.

Coyle said he expects CHSN to reach an agreement with Fubo soon. YouTube TV has completely moved away from regional sports networks in its business model, and Coyle confirmed that CHSN will not be brought over, as previously reported.

CHSN created a direct-to-consumer app similar to the Marquee Sports Network app, through which customers could pay a monthly fee to watch the channel independently, outside of any TV operator or streaming service, and they could be technologically capable and ready for launch. very soon, Coyle said.

However, since CHSN believes that releasing this application would further reduce Comcast’s willingness to reach a deal, they are holding out for now. Coyle said he doesn’t think over-the-air availability is important to Comcast, as it aims to reach consumers who already access TV that way, not new cord-cutters.

“This is an important potential partnership and one that our fans and their customers want,” Coyle said. “We didn’t want to miss any of the games, and we don’t want to miss any more, but we’re trying to look at it long-term as we restore and expand that reach. (Comcast is) a critical part of that.”

Hawks fans on Comcast missed their fifth straight game on Saturday when the Hawks hosted the Sabres, and Bulls fans will begin missing regular season games starting Wednesday with the Bulls’ opener against the Pelicans .

Coyle said he expects the start of the NBA season to increase pressure on Comcast to begin carrying CHSN, but the channel has not set a hard deadline for negotiations with the area’s dominant cable provider from Chicago.

“I don’t know if we’re ready to draw a line in the sand,” Coyle said. “I’d love to see where they are. We’re ready to move quickly. We’re already heavily discounted.

“We’re not being greedy. We just want to give fans the games they want, and we don’t want them to have to pay more than before, and we don’t want them to have less access than before.”

The longer CHSN goes without a Comcast deal, the greater the negative effects on the Hawks will be. President Danny Wirtz said earlier this week that the franchise is generating far less revenue from the local TV piece of the puzzle than it used to, and while that will remain true even with a deal, the difference isn’t it would be so great.

Meanwhile, ticket sales for the Hawks’ first two home games have been underwhelming, suggesting the team may be suffering from an out-of-sight-out-of-mind situation.