Cubs to start own TV network, report says

The lovable losers are no longer losers, and by 2020 the Cubs may become more like the evil empire and begin their own TV network.

Cubs president of business operations Crane Kenney told the Chicago Tribune “it’s good to be us” when discussing the possibility of starting a team media entity similar to the Yankees' YES Network when the Cubs' current TV contracts with NBC Sports Chicago, ABC-7 and WGN-9 expire after the 2019 season.

“We have a big passion for controlling our own destiny,” Kenney said. “It’s sort of like conversations in the real estate market. We like controlling our own destiny. You start adding partners and it becomes a lot more complicated.”

Kenney, who trumpeted the team's TV ratings, said something likely would happen this season as the team doesn’t “want to go into the 2019 season without a partner.”

If the Cubs pull the trigger on an in-house network, the bidding for local rights could be huge from the likes of Disney (which recently acquired 44 Fox regional sports networks) and AT&T (which is attempting to buy Time Warner)