Ring Of Honor May Have Weekly Television Airing In New York And Chicago By 2020
To look at the growth of Ring of Honor, one must look at the moves being made by its parent company, Sinclair Broadcast Group. As Sinclair has grown its media footprint, Ring of Honor has grown along with it. When Sinclair acquires a new television property or starts a new diginet station, such as Charge! Or Comet, ROH is usually placed on the network.
Local broadcast stations or regional cable distribution in America's biggest television markets (New York, Los Angeles and Chicago) have long eluded Ring of Honor. That may soon change for 2 of the 3 biggest markets.
According to Sports Pro Media, Sinclair is in talks to partner with The New York Yankees and Chicago Cubs, respectively, to run two separate regional sports stations.
Sinclair is said to be partnering with The Cubs to start a new regionally-based sports network called Marquee. The station would not go live until 2020. Thus far, The Cubs have denied reports. Additionally, Sinclair is in talks with the Yankees and Amazon on a joint bid to acquire the YES Network, home of the New York Yankees. The Yankees currently own 20% of YES.
Regional sports stations with one or two seasonal properties typically need a fair amount of filler programming during the off-season. ROH would be programming that could be easily slotted in and finally provide the wrestling organization with strong television in two big markets.
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Full disclosure: Lavie is a shareholder of Sinclair Broadcast Group.