The recent YES Network–Comcast carriage dispute has provided a new and potentially powerful wrinkle to the sports media landscape: the influence of the Trump White House.
As the Yankees-led regional sports network and the No. 2 U.S. cable carrier recently reached a distribution deal, it was hardly coincidental that a subsequent statement from team president Randy Levine and longtime Trump ally led an extensive list of thanks with ones to U.S. President Donald Trump and “especially” FCC chairman Brendan Carr. It was Trump who appointed Carr to that role, and the FCC played a sizable role in the YES Network–Comcast battle, with the commission publicly urging the sides to reach an agreement—which they then did.
Other RSNs appear to have quickly taken note of that dynamic. Just days after that pact, White Sox and Bulls owner Jerry Reinsdorf met with Carr. Reinsdorf also leads the new Chicago Sports Network (CHSN) that has been at odds with Comcast since its debut last fall, particularly over the company’s attempt to place the network on a higher and more expensive cable tier—just as it has with nearly two dozen other RSNs. The YES Network was able to resist that tiering effort, at least for now, a fate that CHSN would certainly like to emulate.
Carr publicly posted a picture of his meeting with Reinsdorf and said he “enjoyed the discussion!” The commission has not since made any public comment on CHSN’s negotiation with Comcast, but it will bear close watching whether Carr weighs in to help promote an agreement. The meeting, however, arrived just days after Reinsdorf’s son, Michael, also the Bulls’ president, appeared at a Crain’s forum and accused Comcast of “bad faith” and “discriminatory” negotiation.
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The FCC is also directly involved in another matter with large implications in sports media. Skydance’s attempted $8 billion merger of CBS Sports parent company Paramount, in the works since last summer, remains in limbo awaiting regulatory approval, though Paramount recently expressed confidence in closing the deal by late June.
Trump, however, is still in litigation with CBS News regarding an interview with 2024 Democratic presidential challenger Kamala Harris, a situation likely factoring into that Skydance regulatory process. He took a new and extended broadside at the network late Sunday after the most recent episode of 60 Minutes, calling on Carr to punish the network.
“They should lose their [broadcast] license!,” Trump posted. “Hopefully, the Federal Communications Commission, as headed by its highly respected chairman, Brendan Carr, will impose the maximum fines and punishment, which is substantial, for their unlawful and illegal behavior. CBS is out of control, at levels never seen before, and they should pay a big price for this.”
