🏀 💩 🛏️ BREAKING: Chicago Sports Network Announces App, Poops Bed 🛏️ 💩 🏀
How badly do you want to watch the Bulls, the Blackhawks, or the White Sox? Probably not badly enough to pay the monthly fee for CHSN's new app.
CONTINUING THEIR TRADITION of cheesing off fans of the Chicago Bulls, the Chicago Blackhawks, and the Chicago White Sox, the Chicago Sports Network today announced that beginning on Friday, November 14, they’ll offer a direct-to-consumer app that, as the company claims, “…can also be cast from the web or the app to larger screens including your TV.”
CHSN’s price structure is, in a word, weird. And, in another word, ridiculous.
If you want to watch one of the three teams under CHSN’s umbrella, that’ll set you back $19.99 a month. For all three, it’s $29.99.
For the sake of comparison, Netflix charges $22.99 for its premium package, while the ad-free version of the Disney Bundle Trio — which includes ESPN+ and Hulu — costs $26.99 per month.
Previous to CHSN’s launch, Chicagoans were able to watch all three teams on the now-defunct NBC Sports Network, via Comcast/Xfinity. CHSN has yet to ink a deal with the cable giant, thus, aside from the app, the network is only available on DirecTV, Fubo, and a few smaller providers.
Users can watch CHSN for free if they purchase a digital antenna — and live in an area with a strong signal that allows said antenna to, y’know, work.
In their proudly tone deaf fashion, CHSN celebrated their app via a flowery press release:
“We are excited to offer Chicago sports fans a one-of-a-kind digital product enabling immediate access to live games and a complement of personalized, onhi-demand [sic] content. Today’s announcement is the next step in our long-term commitment to Chicago sports fans everywhere and is another new and compelling way for us to serve and connect with them.”
The sports Twittersphere was less than impressed:
There are thousands of similar tweets, but you get the gist.
For the time being, I’ll keep enjoying the surprisingly entertaining Bulls via one of the many freebie semi-legal international sports streaming sites. Sure, I have to wade through a dozen-plus pop-ups during each game, but it’s better than forking over a wildly inflated fee to watch a trio of teams who are nowhere near a championship.
Editor’s note: Chicago Sports Stuff has offered CHSN a safe space to explain how we got to this point, and if there’s a customer-friendly plan moving forward, to no avail. Our door is still open, so feel free to reach out: ChicagoSportsStuff@gmail.com.