Hulu Live has officially added the Marquee Sports Network, although the Chicago Cubs and Major League Baseball are in hiatus due to the Coronavirus outbreak.
The live streaming service announced last month that it would carry the new TV home of the Cubs. But when the channel launched on February 22, Hulu Live subscribers in the Cubs market were surprised to discover it was not in their lineups.
Hulu issued a statement saying it hoped to have Marquee by opening day in late March, and the streamer finally added it on March 12.
Marquee is a regional sports network, meaning the Cubs games will only be available in the team’s broadcast market which includes Illinois, Iowa, Indiana and parts of Wisconsin. However, Hulu Live says it will only offer the entire channel’s programming lineup in the Chicago market.
“Marquee Sports Network is now available on our Hulu + Live TV service for subscribers located where Chicago regional sports networks are available,” Hulu’s Twitter support team said on March 12.
DIRECTV, U-verse,, Mediacom and Charter are other major pay TV services that have agreed to carry Marquee. Comcast, the largest pay TV provider in the Chicago market, has yet to sign on.
It’s unclear how the Coronavirus suspension is affecting the Comcast-Marquee negotiations. With opening day pushed back until mid-April at the earliest, there’s less pressure on the two sides to reach a deal now.
While MLB is in hiatus, Marquee is replaying Cubs documentaries, news shows, and old soccer matches.
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— Phillip Swann
