Here Is Why I Am So Mad About The Blackhawks Fiasco With CHSN And Providers
I have been throwing a fit online about this Blackhawks broadcast situation. It bothers me on multiple levels. This broadcast issue goes back years and to me highlights the incompetence of senior management and disregard for their fans.
The Blackhawks, obviously, knew that their deal with NBC Sports Chicago was expiring before the 2024 season. The organization started planning for the realities of that deal expiring when going through the contract negotiations with their two legendary broadcasters. Despite the sob story from management about how Hall of Famer Pat Foley didn't know how much he wanted to broadcast anymore, make no mistake, the organization forced him into retirement. He's quietly going along with the story so he can be an ambassador and get a very nice paycheck for doing 5-8 appearances per year. Edzo, our hockey dad, was originally offered a 2 year deal from Jamie Faulkner so it would line up with the end of the NBC deal. That feels logical on the surface until you remember that Chris Vosters was given a 5 year deal. Colby Cohen also had a longer contract than what they offered to Edzo. My understanding is that the Blackhawks went back to Edzo at the 11th hour with more term, but they squabbled over how many games and national games and Eddie was too insulted and too far down the road with Seattle. I'd like to see the ledger of what Foley and Edzo's contracts would've been vs the contracts of Panger and Ball plus the buyouts of Vosters and Cohen. You can add Jamie's old friend from Texas and hired broadcast consultant, Ralph Strangis, to that ledger. Not sure how much she paid him to fix a problem that didn't exist, but if I were a real journalist with media access I'd ask the Blackhawks if that decision to hire Ralph Strangis is still costing them money...
So the decimation of our broadcast is the first layer of anger about this.
The second is with YEARS to prepare for their separation from NBC Sports Chicago they still failed to get a deal done on time with carriers. Now, they can sit there and say that YouTubeTV doesn't want them and Comcast is giving them a hard time on price. Whatever. To me, that is bullshit. Regional Sports Networks have been failing across the country. The genius idea of the organization was to start one of their own in 2024 and partner with the arguably the worst owner in sports (Reinsdorf with Bulls and White Sox). Reinsdorf hired Jason Coyle to be the CEO of CHSN. Coyle was the former CEO of Stadium which was the streaming sports channel. Jerry Reinsdorf bought a majority stake in Stadium after it's previous owner, Sinclair Regional Sports, filed for bankruptcy. Stadium has not been successful. Why would you hire the guy who couldn't gain market share at the previous network to run a brand new station? That's almost like hiring a GM from within to fix all the problems his previous bosses made...
I'd like to know what other options were explored. I am STUNNED that the Blackhawks/CHSN don't have an app available for purchase the way that Marquee does considering how long they knew this change was coming. Marquee charges $19.99 per month for their app. The Blackhawks have said that you can get the games for "free" over air if you guy an antenna which ranges from $20-40. Comcast is reportedly giving it's customers like me a $4-8 rebate because NBC Sports Chicago is now off air.
Here is the other thing I don't understand about launching a regional sports network in 2024...it seems very expensive to operate. You have the Blackhawks, Bulls, and White Sox which are your moneymakers, but are also all SHIT products. In some cases calling the best product "shit" might be generous. NOBODY watched NBC Chicago unless it was the pre/post game shows. I was SHOCKED to see the same old guard of Chicago sports media have shows on the network. Why start a brand new channel where you feel obligated to fill time slots when the only things people actually tune in for are the games and the programming immediately surrounding it? I am just thinking out loud here. Maybe there is an answer. To me, a novice, it seems like a better idea to sell your games to a station that already has wide distribution locally and then if you can't find a solution for cord cutters you offer them an app for the games and maybe some exclusive on-demand content that you can produce cheaply with your in-house talent and hockey-related personnel.
I mentioned Marquee above. They have an established network. They have an established app. I am sure they'd love some programming to sell from October-April when the Cubs are off. Did the Blackhawks talk to Marquee about a partnership? Was the Wirtz-Reinsdorf relationship too strong to pursue something else? I am curious about the level of due diligence done to make the Blackhawks easily accessible for their fans. That is the thing. So far in my experience it hasn't been "easy".
Like a good little boy who just wants to watch his favorite team, I did buy an antenna even though I already pay for xfinity, amazon prime, hulu, peacock, and paramount. The result...not great.
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And I wasn't alone
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These are the Blackhawks fans. Some of their best fans. People who buy tickets. People who buy merch. People who consume a ton of content so you can sell ads. People who actively want to watch this team even though they've sucked for 7 years. People who continue to support this team through scandal and incompetence. The organization failed them.
Not an exact science, but I did a poll out of curiosity
Over 80% of casual sports fans in your market didn't buy the antenna to watch the games. Once again, the Blackhawks are in danger of losing a generation of fans in a huge market with ravenous sports fans.
Here is another outloud thought…the Blackhawks sucked and lucked their way into Connor Bedard. An exciting talent that is capable of creating new fans. The same way Toews and Kane made the Blackhawks the hottest show and ticket in town 15 years ago. Their ability and Rocky getting the games on TV made hockey EXPLODE in this market. The Blackhawks have an opportunity to cash in on that formula again. They should be in growth mode. They should be trying to get their stay boy and best asset in front of as many eyeballs as possible. In my opinion, which admittedly doesn't know all of the details, get a fucking deal done even if it means it's not ideal financially in the short term. You could be creating new fans who you'll make that money back on over the next 50 years.
And perhaps the biggest factor in this is that the Blackhawks don't have any credibility. A scandal seemingly every year. Lawsuits. Lies to the fans. Remember this statement?
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They trotted out this blue ribbon committee for the GM hiring process. Hossa was in Slovakia and Sharp was in Vegas with me when they were interviewing candidates. They just used big names because they had no trust capital with the fans. A little birdie told me Sportsology gave them a list, but Jamie Faulkner wanted Greenberg from her connections with the Cubs. Danny, trying to empower his CEO, gave her authority to hire Greenberg even though he was allegedly leaning towards Kyle Davidson. Jamie offered Greenberg, Greenberg accepted, then Rocky came in and vetoed and that is why Kyle Davidson is the GM. Greenberg was kept on as the assistant GM more as an effort to save face and he was going to create new internal hockey analytics for the Blackhawks. No word on the progress made because he took the Detroit Tigers GM job and to his credit has them a game away from the ALCS. Greenberg is successful in the sport where he spent his entire career…go figure. Not to go too far off the rails here, but it was so obvious that Stan Bowman was a DISASTER for years in Chicago. Really going all the way back to 2010. He was carried by super stars acquired by previous GMs and the greatest coach of this era. Despite all of the failures from the drafting to the cap management to Colliton…the Blackhawks gave him a promotion. He'd probably still be here if it wasn't for the Beach scandal and we'd be floundering even more than we are now. It feels like Danny and Jamie must've been baffled when they found out Bowman left the cupboard completely barren. It should've been obvious to anyone paying attention.
I hate complaining about the Blackhawks. The scandals, the broadcast, the TV problems, the pathetic teams on the ice, the premature ending of the golden era, etc. It's been a LONG 9 years for Blackhawks fans. I don't ask for much. Put the games on TV. I've been lucky enough to see three Stanley Cup winners here and odds are that nothing will ever touch those teams. So I don't even need or expect another Cup to be a hardcore fan. I just need the honest and competent pursuit of a Cup. I really don't think that is too much to ask.
I think Kyle Davidson is doing a good job (though I do find myself having some dark thoughts from time to time) and I think he will have this team in the playoffs in 2027. I like Danny Wirtz on a personal level. I think he's a good guy. It does seem like every non-hockey decision made that impacts the fans has been a bust though. Someone has to be held accountable. I do also find it odd (at best) that there has been so much turnover on the business ops side. Faulkner completely cleaned house when she got the job. Which I suppose is her right to hire the people she wants, but just because it's your "right" doesn't mean that you should. You could criticize the previous regime, but the purpose of criticism is to separate the wheat from the chaff…not to burn the entire crop. She's also had to replace the replacements in many instances. These are some stories that color in the apparent chaos. It feels like this TV distribution problem is just the latest manifestation of a larger problem. I hope I am wrong. I hope we get answers. I hope we get games on TV.