There are many ways to spin this, so I’m going to avoid doing any of that in favor of providing the information and context.
Ratings for last night’s Cubs-White Sox exhibition game were through the roof at NBC Sports Chicago:
TELEVISION RATINGS NEWS: @NBCSChicago posted their #WhiteSox TV HIGHEST RATED (ex season or reg.) Since September 2012 last night (3.93 rtg) … “peak” audience at 156K Chicago market homes. NBC Sports Chicago will also host tonight’s ex-gh Sox-Cubs; Live coverage begins at 6:30 p.m. CT. pic.twitter.com/AAMA3hM9Yr
– Jeff Nuich (@JeffNuich) July 20, 2020
The game was also available on ESPN, but not locally. The game was also available on Marquee, but they still don’t have transportation at Comcast, which is the provider of more than half of homes in the Chicago area.
There were other White Sox broadcasts on NBC Sports Chicago that featured the Cubs, of course, but they tended to feature a broadcast of the opposing Cubs on WGN-9 or ABC-7. So last night’s transmission was definitely a unique animal.
… but still. That’s a great rating for a White Sox game, the highest in nearly a decade. However, the inability of half the Cubs fans in town to watch the game WITHOUT resorting to the White Sox broadcast distorts things in such a way that no conclusions can really be drawn beyond “many people in Chicago wanted to watch a fake game between the Cubs and the White Sox last night. “
As for Marquee and Comcast, we are still waiting. Bruce Levine recently mentioned that he expected a deal earlier this week, and Opening Day is coming up on Friday. However, I have no doubt that the Cubs wanted to reach an agreement before last night’s game, so I remain in the field of “careful concern.” The idea that the Cubs and Sinclair and Comcast (they all deserve the pressure here) would allow this all-season season to start without a transportation deal, really screwing up their fans / customers, it’s still the kind of thing I’m biting into. tongue around. Nothing has happened (or has not happened) yet. But, yes … “cautiously concerned.” Make a deal. Soon.
