Comcast Moving Cubs to Ultimate Tier | How Happy Gilmore 2 Hooks Top Golf Stars

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Comcast will move Cubs' Marquee Sports Network to Ultimate tier after regular season Marquee Sports can consider themselves lucky number 20. That number represents the regional sports networks (RSNs) that Comcast has already moved over to its Ultimate Tier, now including Marquee. As one of the largest cable providers nationwide, Comcast has most, if not all, of the leverage in negotiating with RSNs. In Chicago, Comcast subscribers will have to fork up over $20/month to continue to curse or praise their favorite teams from the comfort of their couch. If you're a fan of one of the CHSN teams (Sox, Bulls, Hawks), you might be scratching your head wondering why MSN viewers get a bit of grace to remain on the cheaper Popular Tier until October 1st. The answer is politics as usual. The Cubs are in a battle for the NL Central title, an easy sell to fairweather fans looking to occasionally catch a Cubs W. The Sox and Hawks are kind of rebuilding, and no one is quite sure what the Bulls are doing. It’s tougher to sell low expectations. The Sun Times details what else is included in the Ultimate Tier.

This Tech Company Is Bringing Chicago Sports to A Global Audience Speaking of CHSN, it’s been a rocky road to stability for the network formed last October. Prolonged negotiations with Comcast have marked its entire existence. CHSN will now get help with the production aspect of the broadcasts, working with Mobile TV Group (MTVG) for live productions. Based in Englewood, CO, the group’s 56FLEX unit will help CHSN broadcasts continue to mostly achieve 1080p HD quality. MTVG offers CHSN flexibility as well as lower costs to produce three of the most popular Chicago sports teams regularly. CHSN will gladly welcome its trucks and trailers loaded with high-quality production tools. Quality in production will only go so far, though. Fans won’t be as satisfied with broadcast quality if wins aren’t included. See the full list of production tools coming to Chicago from Colorado here.

Dealers, collectors expect big sales, another record crowd as National Sports Collectors Convention returns to Chicago It used to be a niche industry reserved for the super sports nerds. Nowadays, sports collectibles are front and center as a main attraction and back again in the city that has produced so many defining moments in sports. Chicago has hosted the National Sports Collectors Convention 15 times, including this year. Twelve of those times have been at the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center in Rosemont. Record attendance is expected for the third year in a row, following events in Chicago in 2023 and Cleveland in 2024. This year’s edition featured legends from MLB and NFL history to add to the allure of the event. 10,000-yard NFL rushers like Emmitt Smith and Adrian Peterson, along with members of the MLB’s 3,000-hit club like Wade Boggs and Albert Pujols were part of the autograph lineup. Locals like Tony Gordon, who specializes in vintage cards, relish the opportunity to attend “The National” at home, where sales are best. Numbers aren’t finalized yet, but Chicago most likely set the standard yet again for The National as the sports collectible industry’s Super Bowl. Find out about how many people attended and what records were set at last year’s edition here.

Chicago Mayor seeking data for potential local sports betting tax A rough year and some change for sports betting operators battling tax changes in Illinois will most likely get rougher. Governor Pritzker already introduced a significant tax hike for operators earlier this year. Chicago’s enduring budget shortfalls had Mayor Johnson watching Springfield’s moves with interest. Initial talks suggest that a local tax is likely to be introduced soon. It’s unlikely to put a dent in the Lake Michigan-sized nearly $1 billion deficit, but the city council still wants to explore all options. It’s also doubtful that large sports betting operators like BetMGM and DraftKings are just going to sit around idly and lose revenue. They’ve already responded to Prtizker’s tax hike by enacting transaction fees, passing on the added expense to customers. Even if protests from the giants in the industry fall on deaf ears in City Hall, expect another fee to be tacked on to offset the revenue loss. SBC Americas details how much tax revenue the state should get, which Mayor Johnson hopes to emulate locally.

ESPN Plans to Spend Billions for a Cable Network? In This Economy? Betting on the NFL as a revenue-generating entity is as sure a bet as any in sports. There’s a reason ESPN first made that bet over 40 years ago when it started covering the NFL draft in 1980. That bet helped cement the newly formed sports network as a force in the industry. But that was then, during the heyday of cable. Today, people have been ditching cable in droves for years in exchange for more flexibility with networks and content. If ESPN completes the deal with the NFL to acquire NFL Media, it would be a sizable gamble. The NFL has been trying to sell off its media assets for almost five years. NFL Network’s viewership numbers have been on the decline in that time. ESPN’s other gamble is still coming when it unveils its direct-to-consumer service before football season kicks off. Billions are on the line for both sides if the agreement is reached. The NFL sits in the driver’s seat, as usual, in its negotiations. ESPN will be betting that America’s favorite sport will further lift the rest of its programming as it has done for years. Read more on what’s at stake for both ESPN and the NFL.

Harper-Manfred Clubhouse Clash Foreshadows MLB Labor Battle It’s generally not recommended to tell your boss’s boss to f—- off. Bryce Harper of the Philadelphia Phillies doesn’t mince his words, regardless of whether they’re directed towards MLB commissioner Rob Manfred. MLB’s Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) expires next year and is clearly not a walk in the park for either side. Manfred wants sweeping changes to address cord-cutting trends nationwide and to attempt to level the financial playing field by introducing a salary cap. MLB is notoriously the only major U.S. sport without a salary cap. In no other major U.S. sport does the top spending team — the NY Mets spend $298.7 million on payroll for their active roster — outspend the lowest spending team — the Minnesota Twins spend $29.7 million on their active roster — by such a drastic margin. Manfred claims fans are complaining of the disparity in competitive balance. But the Players’ Association sees a different picture as the MLB continues to post record attendance and steadily growing viewership ratings. Harper might be one of the most outspoken supporters of the current luxury tax system, but he’s far from the only supporter. All signs point to more messy negotiations and a possible lockout come next December. Front Office Sports describes each side’s grievances in the labor negotiations.

NFL will fine more than 100 players for reselling Super Bowl tickets at a profit When the NFL wants to send a message to its employees of what not to do, it doesn’t hesitate to lay down the law. NFL rules prohibit employees and players from selling game tickets at a profit, yet at least 100 players and several employees of the NFL decided to try their luck on the Big Game. Maybe they were surprised the NFL would find out they were looking to cash in on the most-watched televised event ever in Super Bowl LIX, but it shouldn’t be a surprise. Non-player personnel were hit hardest by the crackdown. They will lose their ability to purchase any NFL tickets ever again and were fined double the face-value of the tickets they sold, compared to the 1.5 times the face-value fine players face. It seems a little harsh to punish employees more who make much less in salary than NFL players, but the NFL doesn’t want any hints of corruption in its offices. Read on to see how many employees were caught profiting from the tickets.

‘Cool As Hell’: How ‘Happy Gilmore 2’ Hooked Golf’s Top Stars Sequels to classic movies always carry a heavy burden cast on by diehard fans. Happy Gilmore came out in a pre-Tiger Woods era of golf, where stuffy, old, and white were the common ways to describe it. Only Lee Trevino, a decorated major winner who beat Jack Nicklaus twice in the same year, was the only pro golfer who agreed to play a role in the movie. Fast forward to the filming of the sequel, and several high-profile golfers are making cameos. Golf has become a cooler sport since Sandler debuted Happy Gilmore in 1996. It’s younger, more diverse, and much less stuffy. The global golf equipment industry is up by $1 billion this year, right along with TV viewership. Happy Gilmore 2 takes a stab at resolving golf’s divide between LIV Golf and the PGA Tour, hoping to build a bridge that reconnects the industry’s best golfers. Golfers like Scottie Scheffler will star in scenes right beside Bryson DeChambeau despite their conflicting affiliations. If the sequel doesn’t live up to the standard the original delivered, at least it has a worthy cause that it went down in flames fighting for. Check out who else could make an appearance and how much golf participation has grown.