Kenney: 'Not Sure What Comcast Is Waiting For'

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(670 The Score) When it comes to their off-the-field focus, the Cubs organization is consumed by one matter of business right now.

That would be Marquee Sports Network's negotiation with Comcast, the leading cable provider in the Chicagoland area. The sides still haven't reached a deal with Opening Day less than a month away, meaning around half the local market currently can't see the Cubs' spring training games and could be in danger of missing the meaningful ones too.

"I’m getting it loud and clear – neighbors, friends, family and everyone else," president of business operations Crane Kenney said on the Mully & Haugh Show on Thursday morning. "Trust me, we are laser-focused on Comcast. We get it, 100 percent understand how important that is to our fans.

"We really won’t call it a success until we’ve got Comcast done and really are serving the whole market. We kind of hunker down and just grind on this one."

Negotiations with Comcast continue to be the focus of the Cubs and Marquee, Kenney said. He didn't have much of an update on progress Thursday, though he suggested the ball is in Comcast's court. 

"We haven’t lost sight of it," Kenney said. "Conversations are occurring. I don’t have a greater update for that for you today on that one. We get the WOW! deal done – which is No. 4 (in market share) – and we obviously have AT&T and DirecTV – which is No. 2 in the market – it does validate the terms that we’re offering (are) at least in our minds are fair and reasonable. Everybody seems to be feeling like that’s a pretty good offer. You are starting to get to the point where I’m not sure what Comcast is waiting for. But you know, we’ll obviously keep working on it and look forward to getting them up before the Opening Day of the regular season for sure."

Kenney struck an optimistic note in large part because he knows Comcast has previously invested in and been dedicated to carrying regional sports networks across the country. That's also the reason he was unsure about whether Marquee will land a carriage deal with YouTube TV, a streaming platform that doesn't have as much history.

"YouTube is also a different one in terms of their strategic position and what’s the demographic of their subscribers," Kenney said. "It’s hard to predict what they’re going to do. Obviously, Alphabet is the owner there and does have some different views on the way they’re going to approach the market. I would say if you can leave aside for a second the whole question of Marquee, just in general, the video marketplace is undergoing a lot of change. I would put YouTube in the camp of more of an unknown than some of the others. Ultimately, we’ll have about 80 carriers. We’ve got over 40 now. The traditional linear cable companies like Comcast, it’s much more straightforward in the conversation. They’re sports consumers and really are negotiating over price and some other carriage terms. I’d say YouTube is one of the outliers. It’s a different type of negotiation. So I would be maybe a little less certain on that one than I am on Comcast and some of the others."