CHSN

Review by eFreeware

Following Chicago teams has always meant hopping between broadcasts, regional feeds and whatever channel happens to carry the game that night. CHSN, short for Chicago Sports Network, is an attempt to put that coverage in one place.

It is a free download in the Sports category, rated for Everyone, and it has been available since late October 2024. The install base sits above 50,000, with a 3.1 average across 632 ratings. That is a modest score for an app tied to three major franchises, and it tells you something about how fans have received it so far.

What interests me about the concept is the narrowness. This is not a general sports app trying to cover every league and every city. It is built around one network and the teams that network carries, which is either exactly what a Chicago fan needs or irrelevant depending on where your loyalties sit.

Three teams, one app

Three Chicago teams have their official app in CHSN: the Bulls, the Blackhawks and the White Sox. If you follow any of those three, the app is designed to be your access point to what the network produces around them. That covers the seasons as they run, from hockey through basketball and into baseball.

CHSN content can also be seen in shops and venues across the US. That is an unusual detail, and it suggests the network is thinking beyond the phone screen, putting games and coverage in front of people in places they already go rather than only through a personal device.

For a fan living in Chicago, or one who moved away and still follows the teams, the appeal is having a single destination tied to the network that holds the rights. You are not hunting for which service carries a given game; you are going to the source.

What surrounds the games

Beyond live coverage, the app is positioned as the hub for the network's output around these clubs. Team-specific content sits under one roof rather than being split across separate apps for hockey, basketball and baseball, which is the practical benefit of a network-run product.

The most recent update, dated August 13, 2026, is described only as bug fixes and enhancements. That is the kind of maintenance note that suggests the app is being kept running rather than rebuilt, and it is the only change history given.

Because the app is free to download and carries ads, with in-app purchases also offered, it is not a straight subscription product.

What it asks of you

The barriers here are practical. You need to be interested in at least one of three specific teams, because that is the entire scope. A fan of another city's franchise will find nothing here, and someone who wants broad league coverage across many sports is looking at the wrong tool.

You also need to accept the presence of in-app purchases. Neither is unusual for a sports app tied to a broadcast network, and the 3.1 rating suggests a fair number of users have been left unsatisfied.

The flip side is that there is no cost to trying it. Downloading CHSN commits you to nothing, so a Chicago fan can install it, see whether the coverage matches what they want, and decide from there.

A narrow tool for a specific fan

My read is that CHSN is worth installing if you follow the Blackhawks, the Bulls or the White Sox and want the network's own app as your access point. The scope is the point: three teams, one network, one place to look.

The 3.1 average across 632 ratings is the number I would keep in mind. It is not a disaster, but it is low enough that I would go in with measured expectations rather than assuming a polished experience.

If your interest is Chicago sports specifically, the app costs nothing to try and covers exactly the teams it promises. If your interest is sports more broadly, or a team outside those three, this one has nothing for you.

What's new

- Bug fixes and enhancements