The first domino has fallen for the carriage of Marquee Sports Network, and it is a big one. Like, huge. Sinclair Broadcast Group announced Thursday that they have reached a deal with media giant AT&T for continued carriage of Sinclair channels across their three cable arms. In addition to hundreds of local stations and the 21 Fox RSNs Sinclair recently purchased, the announcement specifically included mention of Marquee.
Sinclair Broadcast Group, Inc. (Nasdaq: SBGI), and AT&T have agreed on a multi-year agreement across DIRECTV, AT&T TV and U-verse for continued carriage of Sinclair’s owned local broadcast stations and Tennis Channel, for future carriage of Marquee Sports Network, a regional sports network featuring games of the Chicago Cubs launching in 2020, as well as for the 21 RSN brands Sinclair recently acquired and the YES Network, in which Sinclair is a joint-venture partner.