Chicago Bulls, White Sox Owner Buys Controlling Interest in Stadium Network; Is New Chicago RSN Coming?

Sinclair Broadcasting Group (SBG) has enough regional sports network (RSN) problems on its plate. Its subsidiary Diamond Sports Group — which operates 19 RSNs under the Bally Sports brand — is currently undergoing bankruptcy court proceedings. Given those troubles, it’s not terribly surprising the company has decided to pull away from another of its regional sports ventures.

According to Front Office Sports, Chicago Bulls and White Sox owner Jerry Reinsdorf has taken majority control of Stadium, the Chicago-based multiplatform sports network featuring exclusive live and on-demand games and events, extensive highlights, classic games, original programming, and daily live studio programming. Reisndorf bought out Sinclair’s stake in Stadium, making his Silver Chalice media company the primary stakeholder in the network.

A source close to the deal told FOS that the new ownership structure will be accompanied by big moves down the line for the channel. Given that the broadcasting deal with NBC Sports Chicago for Chicago sports teams including the White Sox, Bulls, and Blackhawks expires in October 2024, it’s not hard to connect the dots to determine what those moves might be.

It’s hard to know how ardently NBCUniversal will fight to keep the rights to those teams for its RSN. Warner Bros. Discovery made it very easy to see how it felt with its RSNs, as it informed the major league teams it partnered with that it was leaving the RSN business altogether in February. But there has been no such abrupt move from NBCU or its parent company Comcast regarding its NBC Sports regional channels.

The company has had discussions about making its RSNs available to stream on its subscription video platform Peacock. This could be taken as a sign that the company isn’t ready to give up on those channels just yet, and that it wants to see what distributing them on Peacock could do for their ratings. But it’s hard to say when, or even if NBC Sports RSNs will definitively be available on Peacock, and without that information it’s difficult to gauge the company’s intentions.

Stadium currently offers live games (primarily on the college level), as well as studio analysis, sports news programming, and on-demand content. If it does manage to steal the rights to Chicago’s NBA, NHL, and one of its MLB teams from NBC Sports Chicago, it could potentially launch a regional streaming platform similar to NESN 360 and YES Network. That will have to wait until at least 2024 but look for Reinsdorf and Silver Chalice to be very active regarding the rights to the Blackhawks, Bulls, and White Sox as next October draws closer.