March 11, 2024

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The long-running site search for a new Bears stadium is ending, and right next to Soldier Field. … The Mid-Atlantic Sports Network’s move to a more expensive cable tier on Comcast in the Baltimore-Washington area heightens an industry shift impacting several RSNs. … Plus: More on the U.S. women’s national soccer team, Ted Leonsis and arena nemesis L. Louise Lucas, IndyCar, and the Basketball Africa League.

— Eric Fisher [[link removed]] and David Rumsey [[link removed]]

Bears to Stay in City of Chicago, but Questions Remain [[link removed]]

Quinn Harris-USA TODAY NETWORK

The Bears’ long and winding tour of potential stadium sites across the Chicagoland region is coming to an end.

The NFL team confirmed Monday it intends to remain in the city of Chicago, and it is focusing on a lakefront site in downtown Chicago that is currently a parking lot for the adjacent Soldier Field. The latest development in the saga largely confirms previous reports [[link removed]] detailing the Bears’ rising interest in that parking lot site.

The team’s intent to stay in the city, after numerous prior flirtations with moving to the suburbs, also arrives amid a potential “financing partnership” [[link removed]] with the White Sox in which both teams would take a more collaborative approach to help ensure their respective efforts to build new stadiums get done. There is not a finalized plan for how to pay for the new facility, but the Bears have pledged $2 billion toward the effort.

“The future stadium of the Chicago Bears will bring a transformative opportunity to our region—boosting the economy, creating jobs, facilitating mega events, and generating millions in tax revenue,” Bears president Kevin Warren said. “We look forward to sharing more information when our plans are finalized.”

Big Interest

The Bears’ stadium saga remains one of the most closely watched issues across the NFL—as well as the rest of the sports industry. Despite being the country’s third-largest media market, Chicago, for years, has been shut out of hosting major events such as the Super Bowl and Final Four, as it does not have a large-scale domed stadium. The team’s project aims to rectify that, and a prior version of its stadium plan centered on a $5 billion project that includes a domed venue and a mixed-use development.

Over the past year, the Bears have either considered or received inbound interest from the city of Chicago [[link removed]], as well as the suburban locales of Arlington Heights [[link removed]], Aurora [[link removed]], Naperville [[link removed]], Richton Park [[link removed]], Waukegan [[link removed]], and Country Club Hills [[link removed]]. That far-flung search, however, now appears poised to end with the shortest possible move for the Bears.

About That $197 Million Purchase …

The latest turn, however, also raises the question of what the Bears will do with the former Arlington International Racecourse property it purchased in early 2023 for $197 million. A tax dispute helped derail original plans to build a stadium there, but if the team were to resell all or part of the property, that money could be funneled toward the new downtown stadium.

The Soldier Field parking lot site, meanwhile, has a prior history of thwarted development. In 2016, Star Wars creator George Lucas planned to house a significant art and movie memorabilia collection on the grounds, but he ultimately dropped [[link removed]] that plan amid local opposition. To that end, it remains to be seen how extensive the team’s additional development around the stadium will be.

As Cable Industry Shifts, MLB Fans Will End up Paying the Price [[link removed]]

USA Today Sports

A large-scale repositioning of regional sports networks by cable and satellite carriers is gathering speed and impact, and it is now involving two of the country’s largest media markets.

After a short-term extension [[link removed]] of a prior carriage agreement with Comcast, the Mid-Atlantic Sports Network completed a new contract with Comcast, the largest cable carrier in the Washington-Baltimore region, which includes the country’s No. 9 and 29 media markets. But the deal carries a major shift: The Orioles-controlled MASN will move from Comcast’s most basic cable tier to a more expensive and less broadly distributed “Ultimate TV” tier.

That change will mean that those wanting to see the Orioles and Nationals in that region will eventually need to pay an extra $20 per month. Comcast is phasing in the switch with a six-month promotion that offers its “Popular TV” customers the ability to transition to “Ultimate TV” for three months with no additional charge, with a $10 surcharge for months four through six.

Other Regions: Comparable Actions

Comcast, essentially tied with Charter as the largest cable carrier in the U.S. with more than 14.1 million subscribers, has made similar moves in the last six months to RSNs in Pittsburgh and Seattle—introducing higher costs for fans of the Pirates and Mariners, respectively—and similar actions are expected in other markets as contract terms end and additional opportunities for renegotiation emerge.

Cord-cutting is hemorrhaging the entire cable business, and Comcast has lost more than 2 million cable customers in the last year and more than 4 million in the last two years. But amid that continued subscriber loss—and other factors such as the still-unsettled state of sports streaming and the bankruptcy [[link removed]] of Diamond Sports Group—major cable carriers such as Comcast have gained some greater leverage with RSNs.

That dynamic is amplified further in the case of MASN, as that network hasn’t yet developed an in-market offering similar to what is available in several other MLB markets, and it only livestreams content to authenticated [[link removed])] cable subscribers.

But as the Orioles are in the process of being sold [[link removed]] to private equity billionaire David Rubenstein, MASN was able to avoid a more extreme situation like MSG Network’s. Comcast has not carried that RSN since 2021 amid a contract dispute that hasn’t been resolved. The MASN deal also arrives as on-field expectations for the Orioles are higher than they’ve been in more than a generation. After a renaissance [[link removed]] season in ’23, the club currently boasts MLB’s best spring training record with a mark of 14–2.

SPONSORED BY MAGNIFI

What’s Next for College Athletics

The business of college sports [[link removed]] is reaching new heights.

Historic media rights deals have networks and streaming paying billions for the privilege of broadcasting college football. NIL came along, let players get paid, and changed the entire culture on campus overnight. Women’s college sports are setting attendance and viewership records in rapid succession, not to mention the transfer portal and conference realignment.

Join us [[link removed]] on March 13 at 1 p.m. ET for the Future of Sports: College Athletics virtual summit, presented by Magnifi. This eye-opening conversation includes four panels designed to dive into the billion-dollar spectacle that encompasses everything from March Madness to the College Football Playoff and everything in between.

Register now [[link removed]].

STATUS REPORT Two Up, One Down, One Push

Abe Arredondo-USA TODAY Sports

USWNT ⬆ The Americans defeated Brazil 1–0 on Sunday in San Diego to win the inaugural Concacaf W Gold Cup and, with it, the $1 million first-place prize. Brazil took home $500,000, for second place, out of the total $3.7 million purse [[link removed]].

IndyCar ⬆ Josef Newgarden won the St. Petersburg Grand Prix on Sunday as the racing series opened its 2024 season with record crowds in Florida for the third consecutive year. Official numbers are not available, but at least 200,000 fans are estimated to have attended over the three-day event, according to recent figures from the Indianapolis Star [[link removed]].

Basketball Africa League ⬇ A protest of BAL’s jersey sponsor, Visit Rwanda, led to one of its 12 teams, Burundi’s Dynamo BC, forfeiting a game that was scheduled for Sunday. The Dynamo covered up the logo for their game Saturday, according to ESPN [[link removed]], in the wake of rising political tensions between Rwanda and Burundi.

New D.C. arena ⬆⬇ Capitals and Wizards owner Ted Leonsis recently had a face-to-face meeting with Virginia state Sen. L. Louise Lucas—one of the biggest critics of a proposed $2 billion venue and mixed-use development in Alexandria. But the meeting wasn’t enough for Lucas to nix the needed funding [[link removed]] for the project, according to The Washington Post [[link removed]].

SPONSORED BY PROFESSIONAL BULL RIDERS

The Biggest, Most Exciting Weekend in Western Sports

Western sports’ biggest weekend will open with Kid Rock’s Rock N Rodeo [[link removed]], the first modern-era team rodeo with live music. This reimagined rodeo amped up with a Kid Rock concert will deliver a brand-new mash-up of rodeo and rock ’n’ roll in an all-American, hotly competitive Western sporting event.

Following the $1 million team rodeo, it’s a bodacious bunch of bull: PBR World Finals Championship [[link removed]], the biggest event in bull riding, pitting the world’s best cowboys against the rankest bulls. One tough and determined cowboy will be the last man standing to grab the coveted gold buckle and million-dollar bonus.

Don’t miss the epitome of cowboy sports in an experience like no other inside the home of the Dallas Cowboys.

Click here [[link removed]] for tickets.

Conversation Starters Georgetown, overcoming the death of women’s basketball head coach Tasha Butts to breast cancer in October, defied expectations Sunday to secure its first spot [[link removed]] in Monday night’s Big East championship, a testament to the No.6–seed team’s season-long rally in her memory. Kevin Harlan’s ad reads, particularly his Halo ad for Paramount+ during the Drake–Indiana State game, are known for their distinctiveness. Have a listen [[link removed]]. Immediately following Utah State’s loss to Boise State in the first round of the Mountain West women’s basketball tournament Sunday, Aggies head coach Kayla Ard revealed [[link removed]] at the postgame press conference that she had just been let go. “I’m assuming that’s going to be the last question,” she said. Editors’ Picks ‘Deadspin’ Sold to European Start-Up, All Staffers Laid Off [[link removed]]by Margaret Fleming [[link removed]] and A.J. Perez [[link removed]]About a dozen employees were immediately locked out of their accounts. Prime Effect? CU Admissions See Big Boost, Especially Among Diverse Applicants [[link removed]]by Margaret Fleming [[link removed]]Applications are up 20% overall from last year, 50% among prospective Black students. [[link removed]] For the ‘Spulu’ Super-Streamer: Lots of Questions, No Good Answers [[link removed]]by Michael McCarthy [[link removed]]Big partners, bigger promises, and an unclear operation. Advertise [[link removed]] Awards [[link removed]] Learning [[link removed]] Video [[link removed]] Podcast [[link removed]] Sports Careers [[link removed]] Written by Eric Fisher [[link removed]], David Rumsey [[link removed]] Edited by Matthew Tabeek [[link removed]], Catherine Chen [[link removed]]

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