We are less than 36 hours away from first pitch at Wrigley Field to start this new 60-game schedule for the 2020 season and there’s still a growing concern that millions of Chicago Cubs fans won’t be able to watch games this season.
For the past year we have heard the rumblings about the Cubs and Comcast working on a deal to broadcast Marquee Network, the new home of the franchise, but it hasn’t happened yet. And here we are the day before Opening Day and a deal isn’t done. Heck, we even have a damn update article on whether or not the channel is available yet on Comcast.
But there is some hope and growing optimism that it will be done on time and a deal could be announced as early as this afternoon.
Evan Altman of Cubs Insider has been on top of this story for months now and reported some interesting news on Thursday morning. Altman wrote that he is being told a deal is completed and will be announced very soon. However, he does write that Comcast officials keep telling him that nothing is official just yet.
Here is what Altman wrote on the situation:
A Comcast representative would not confirm the deal as of Wednesday evening, saying only that the parties “are still in discussions,” but more than one source and a great deal of industry buzz strongly indicates it’s done. On the most recent episode of The Rant Live, I had said that an agreement would likely be announced Friday morning if one was reached, and it appears that we’re heading toward such a revelation. However, early leaks of the news could push Marquee and the Cubs to move the timeline up a bit.
The agreement comes just in time for the Cubs’ season-opening game against the Brewers on Friday evening, a contest that will be aired by both Marquee and ESPN. A national broadcast on Opening Day would have been particularly frustrating for local Comcast subscribers who otherwise would have been blacked out by the Four-Letter due to a local broadcast they wouldn’t have been able to watch.
Altman isn’t the only one reporting a deal is done, either.
Barstool Sports’ ‘Barstool Carl’ tweeted on Sunday that a deal was done between the two sides and an announcement will be coming soon.
Sources: Comcast and Marquee Network will announce their deal next week.
— two bird carl (@barstoolcarl) July 19, 2020
We could wake up Friday morning and be in for a big surprise with a deal done and Marquee Network on our Comcast channels. That would be amazing.
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