On November 16, 2015 in an interview with WSCR radio, the Cubs' president of business operations Crane Kenney stated that the team was seeking to launch its own in-house regional sports network after its current broadcast contracts with NBC Sports Chicago, WGN Sports, and WLS-TV expire after the 2019 season. On December 18, 2018, it was reported by the Chicago Sun-Times that the team was preparing to launch its RSN, "Marquee", in 2020, and that Sinclair Broadcast Group was a frontrunner to serve as managing partner. Sinclair had previously attempted to purchase WGN's parent company Tribune Media, and runs the national sports network Stadium with the White Sox's investment arm Silver Chalice. The venture was officially announced in February 2019 to be launched in 2020 with Sinclair. On May 22, 2019, Michael McCarthy was named general manager of the Marquee Sports Network after being the Cubs' consultant on the channel. He is the former president of the MSG Network and a former top official with the Milwaukee Bucks and the St. Louis Blues. On August 22, 2019, a consortium of Sinclair and Entertainment Studios acquired Fox Sports Networks for $10.6 billion, thus making Marquee a sister to them. The divestiture was mandated as part of Disney's acquisition of 21st Century Fox, who chose not to retain the networks under its successor Fox Corporation. Early reception of Marquee has been mixed by fans, culminating in fans booing Cubs chairman Tom Ricketts during the annual Cubs Convention after mention of the new network. Marquee Sports Network officially launched on February 22, 2020 at 1 p.m. CT, with its first program being a launch special hosted by actor and Cubs fan Bill Murray, followed by a documentary on Ernie Banks. The channel aired its first live spring training game against the Oakland Athletics at Sloan Park later in the day; the game had been postponed from the afternoon due to the threat of rain.
Talent
The Cubs' current television commentators Len Kasper and Jim "J.D." Deshaies will maintain their roles on Marquee. On May 1, 2019, it was reported that David Kaplan—NBC Sports Chicago studio host for Cubs games—had renewed his contract with the channel, dispelling rumors that he planned to join Marquee. Cole Wright, formerly of NFL Network, will serve as studio host, and Taylor McGregor, formerly field reporter for the Colorado Rockies on AT&T SportsNet Rocky Mountain, will serve as field reporter. The channel also brought on Bob Vorwald, former executive producer of WGN Sports.
Programming
Besides game broadcasts, Marquee will carry documentaries, game replays and player profiles, as well as coverage of minor league games. The channel might attempt to pick up college basketball for the winter time. Stadium and the Fox Sports Regional Networks, now partly owned by Sinclair, would provide some programming.
As of February 2020, Sinclair had secured distribution deals with Charter Communications, RCN, DirecTV, Hulu Live, Mediacom, and Frontier Communications to carry Marquee Sports Network at launch. Upon the announcement of the channel, the network's ability to gain carriage was compared to the troubled negotiations of the Los Angeles Dodgers' SportsNet LA. Industry observer Phillip Swan thought Marquee would have a "50-50 chance of working" while commenting "“How can you not look at the disaster of the SportsNet scene and not be a little skeptical?" Charter has since come to terms with DirecTV to carry SportsNet LA. Industry experts predicted that Marquee would seek around $5 per subscriber placing it behind YES Network and ESPN. Sinclair secured Marquee's first major carriage agreement with Charter Communications on July 11, 2019. As part of the multi-year carriage agreement, Marquee was bundled alongside Sinclair's owned-and-operated television stations, Tennis Channel and the regional Fox Sports Networks that Sinclair was in the process of buying from Disney at the time. On October 17, 2019, AT&T agreed to carry Marquee on its television services as part of a larger, multi-year carriage agreement with Sinclair. Sinclair later reached a deal with Mediacom on November 6, 2019 to carry Marquee Sports Network. On February 17, 2020, the network announced an agreement to carry the network on Hulu's live streaming service. On February 27, the network announced an agreement with WOW cable. Comcast, the largest television provider in the region, reached an agreement to carry Marquee on July 24 as part of a larger renewal for Sinclair-owned television stations and cable networks. Marquee's deal with DirecTV is for in-market coverage only. Unlike many other regional sports networks, Marquee is not included in DirecTV's Sports Pack, which carries RSNs nationwide with appropriate blackouts of professional events. Dish Network and YouTube TV have not reached an agreement with Sinclair to carry Marquee Sports Network. Additionally, Marquee also has the rights to the games for the Cubs' Minor League Baseball clubs, including Des Moines's Iowa Cubs and the South Bend Cubs, ending deals with local broadcast subchannels to leverage Iowa and northern Indiana cable systems into carrying the network.
