Heads I Win, Tails You Lose

Lo and behold, the Tribune did some honest-to-goodness reporting over the weekend with a story on the Cubs’ Marquee Network. It seems that ratings have plummeted fifty-six percent since network’s debut in 2020. Now, this is where it gets interesting—the Cubs are taking in $90 million-plus in yearly TV rights from the venture, better than the $60 million they were pulling down when the team was part of a joint venture with the Blackhawks, Bulls and White Sox. How do they do it, you might ask? People like me make it possible. If I want a cable package with sports, I have to pay for Marquee, never mind I don’t want to watch the North Siders unless they’ve lost at least fifteen in a row. Now, consider that every MLB team gets in the ballpark of $100 million each year in revenue sharing. In other words, no matter how bad the Cubs might be, they start the season with $190 million, give or take, in the bank. That should be a problem for Cubs’ fans to deal with. It should not be a problem that I contribute to by paying my monthly cable bill.