Karen Klein- How to Launch a Sports Network in Record Time

In the inaugural episode of the ILG on demand podcast, Sara Chubb discusses the launch of Chicago Sports Network (CHSN) with General Counsel Karen Klein. CHSN, which covers the Chicago Blackhawks, Chicago Bulls, and Chicago White Sox, launched in six months instead of the usual 18 or more it takes to launch a network of this size. Key early priorities included securing talent agreements, engaging the production crew, and setting up advertising terms. Klein emphasized the importance of understanding the league's policies and building relationships with stakeholders. The network also launched a direct-to-consumer app, requiring close collaboration with the product team to ensure compliance and a seamless user experience.  In this episode, Sara and Karen discuss:How in-house counsel effectively balance the needs of internal stakeholders and external partners when launching new productsEnsuring transparency and respect for consumer privacy when building new products and featuresThe importance of building trust and strong relationships with key stakeholders, and understanding what’s most important to them.When you are on a tight timeline, sometimes you have to   "The key thing was, on October one, the games had to be shown on the air, and the actual production quality had to be excellent. So that really helped me prioritize things, the talent agreements and engaging production crews, that had to come first. " —  Karen Klein Connect with Sara and ILG:Sara Chubb- https://www.infolawgroup.com/sara-skinner-chubbEmail-  [email protected] https://www.infolawgroup.com/LinkedIn- https://www.linkedin.com/company/infolawgroup-llp/Email- [email protected] with Karen and CHSN:Website- https://www.chsn.com/LinkedIn- https://www.linkedin.com/in/karen-klein-6180a52/Instagram- https://www.instagram.com/chsn/?hl=enX- https://x.com/CHSN__Facebook- https://www.facebook.com/chsn