US MLB baseball club the Chicago Cubs have exercised an option to curtail their local rights deal with cable-television broadcaster WGN-TV after the 2014 season, according to the Chicago Tribune newspaper.
The report, citing sources close to the situation, said that the team notified the Tribune Company-owned broadcaster on Tuesday that it had 30 days to agree to substantially higher fees for the 2015 season and beyond, or the broadcast rights would be opened up for negotiation with other parties.
The Cubs have also demanded that any new deal with WGN-TV would only run until 2019, removing three years from the existing contract.
WGN-TV currently broadcasts around 70 Cubs games per season. The team’s other games are televised by Comcast SportsNet Chicago, generating about $60m (€44.1m) in combined broadcast rights fees for the Cubs per year.
CSN’s partnership with the Cubs is due to run until 2019. The team’s contract with WGN-TV ran through 2022, but contained a provision to renegotiate the agreement for a five-year term after the 2014 season.
By exercising the option, the Cubs’ broadcast and cable rights will wrap up in 2019, with the Tribune stating that such a development would allow for the possibility of the team forming its own pay-television sports channel.