If you’re a Chicago sports fan, go ahead and check your cable bill. Then take a deep breath. Because the price of watching your hometown teams — the ones you’ve supported through rebuilds, lockouts, and heartbreak — just went up again.
It’s not enough that Chicagoans already pay anywhere from $150 to $300 every month for cable and internet bundles. Nope. Now, to watch the Bulls, Blackhawks, and White Sox, you’ll need to fork over even more thanks to the new Chicago Sports Network (CHSN).
Here’s the deal: CHSN isn’t free, and it’s not even included in most cable packages. It’s tucked behind Comcast’s “Ultimate” tier, which costs about $20 extra every month, on top of the $20.25 regional sports fee you’re already paying. That’s right — you’re paying a premium and a fee to watch your hometown teams. The math? More than $30 extra a month for content that, just last year, was free over the air.
Yes, CHSN used to be available with a simple antenna. You could catch the games like a normal fan — no app, no password, no upgrade. But that’s gone. Those free over-the-air broadcasts were shut off once Comcast picked up the rights. Now, if you want to watch your local teams, you either:
- Pay Comcast more money,
- Switch to a provider like DIRECTV, Fubo, or Astound,
- Or cough up $19.99 per team (or $29.99 for all three) for CHSN’s streaming app.
And then there’s the Cubs, who have their own network — Marquee Sports Network — locked behind the same “Ultimate” paywall or their own streaming app, WatchMarquee.com.
So let’s recap:
- Bulls, Sox, Hawks = CHSN
- Cubs = Marquee
- Your wallet = empty
The result? Fans are being priced out of their own teams. Chicagoans are already paying top-dollar for basic service, and now they’re being told that loyalty costs extra.
For years, local sports channels were part of what made Chicago fandom special — you could flip on NBC Sports Chicago or WGN and feel connected to the city, your family, your history. Now, those moments are being sold back to us in $20 chunks.
And the worst part? It’s not like the product got any better. The White Sox are rebuilding (again), the Bulls can’t pick a direction, and the Blackhawks are young and inconsistent. Yet fans are the ones footing the bill for corporate media deals that make it harder — not easier — to stay connected.
You shouldn’t have to be rich to be a fan. But right now, Chicago sports are being treated like luxury entertainment instead of a shared community experience.
Fans deserve better. We’ve stood by these teams through everything — decades of heartbreak, trades, and false hope — and the least they can do is let us watch without charging a second mortgage.
If you’re sick of paying more for less, make noise. Tag your team. Tag @comcast, @WatchMarquee, and @CHSN__. Let them know Chicago fans have had enough of getting overcharged for their own home teams.
Because if there’s one thing this city doesn’t do quietly — it’s fight for what’s ours.
