Comcast Corporation has reached a deal with the YES Network for continued distribution of the regional sports network, ensuring that its customers will be able to continue viewing New York Yankees baseball, Brooklyn Nets basketball and other live programming. The two sides were nearing the expiration of a deadline that had been extended to avoid a blackout of YES Network amid the expiration of its carriage agreement. The news of the agreement just before the proverbial eleventh hour on Monday night comes ahead of the Yankees beginning a three-game series against the Arizona Diamondbacks and the Nets closing out the regular season with five home games.
“Comcast and YES have reached an agreement for continued distribution of the YES Network,” the two companies said in a joint statement obtained by Barrett Media. If no deal had been reached before the deadline, the network would have presumably gone dark in New Jersey and other marketplaces.
YES Network chief executive officer Jon Litner appeared in the Yankees television broadcast booth where he delineated the situation and voiced that Comcast had been demanding YES Network to move on a more expensive digital package. On top of that, Litner spoke about how Comcast has been giving their own networks preferred treatment, including SportsNet New York, of which it possesses a partial ownership stake. At the moment, it is unclear if YES Network will remain available within the current distribution plan.
“Comcast is dropping YES Network because YES refuses to be moved to a more expensive tier, which would cost Yankees and Nets fans an extra $20 per month,” YES Network said in a message that appeared on its programming this past Sunday. Comcast responded to the comments issued by Litner in a concurrent statement.
“We have offered to distribute YES Network in the same package that has been accepted by 20 RSNs in over 100 DMAs across the country in order to provide fans with access to YES programming and a choice for consumers who do not want to pay the additional fees for the games,” Comcast said in a statement obtained by Sports Business Journal.
“YES Network has insisted we pay higher fees when nearly 90% of customers watched fewer than 5 of the ~130 Yankees games it aired last season. If we lose the rights to carry YES, we will credit our customers between $7-$10 a month. Xfinity customers can also subscribe directly to the Gotham Sports App to watch the games.”
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