The year isn’t ending well for Marquee Sports Network. Two months after Comcast bumped it up to its most-expensive programming tier, the network said Monday that it will operate without a general manager.
Diane Penny is out as GM after joining the network in April 2024. Hired to accelerate Marquee’s digital transformation, her efforts failed to drive revenue, which led to significant cuts in the digital-content team. Director of content Tony Andracki and reporter Andy Martinez were among them.
“In the interim, we will use Cubs and Sinclair resources to fill [Penny’s] role as we assess the future leadership needs of the network,” Cubs president of business operations Crane Kenney told the Sun-Times.
In place of Penny, a Villa Park native, Cubs chief commercial officer Colin Faulkner will oversee game coverage and production, all but erasing the line between the team and the network and putting the operation in the hands of a TV neophyte. Faulkner also will oversee marketing and talent. Marquee hasn’t decided what will become of its website.
Marquee also is outsourcing its local sales operations to PlayFly, which represents Marquee and other RSNs in efforts to obtain national advertising. Brady Huston, who began overseeing the network’s sales and revenue in August, will continue in his role but will partner with PlayFly and work with Faulkner on sales.
Andrew Schnell will continue to run Marquee’s app, and he’ll take on non-game content. Chief financial officer Robin Mulvaney will oversee technical operations.
The team’s broadcast partner, Sinclair, played a key role in conceiving the cuts, which won’t affect any on-air talent. Sources say Sinclair has been paying close attention to how Marquee operates and spends, a precursor to the cuts.
While holding back on spending for players, the deep-pocketed Cubs now are tightening the belt around Marquee. Though all RSNs are navigating the headwinds of a changing sports-media landscape, Marquee has significantly reduced the diverse programming it heralded at launch, scaling down to focus on game coverage.
“We’re continuing to prioritize live game broadcasts as the primary content on the network,” Kenney said.
Marquee’s next issue, beyond a potential work stoppage after next season, could be MLB commissioner Rob Manfred’s desire to centralize teams’ media rights. But the Cubs and Sinclair have a long-term agreement that figures to make such an arrangement difficult.