The YES Network — the home of the New York Yankees, Brooklyn Nets and New York Liberty — finally made its new streaming service official. Yes, it's arriving a little late for those who wanted to watch Aaron Judge chase Roger Maris' home run record, but the YES Network will now be available as a $25 per month subscription.
That bitter, high-priced, pill may be how New York fans (and you have to live there to access it, or hope you can trick it with one of the best VPNs) who cut the cord manage to stream the regional sports network. That's because only one over-the-top streaming service — DirecTV Stream, which isn't close to being our favorite of the best cable TV alternatives — offers it to streamers.
YES is offering an early-adopter price of $19.99 per month or $199 per year, if you sign up through April 30th. Those who can do simple math, and know how many months are in the baseball calendar, can tell you that this annual pricing (it's $239 per year normally) is something to avoid unless you really want to follow all three NY sports teams.
Analysis: Live sports TV is hell right now
As any sports fan who wants to follow their local team on regional sports networks (RSN) knows, you're often stuck with cable unless you want to pay through the roof for streaming.
As NY-area sports fans may know, neither Fubo, YouTube TV nor Hulu + Live TV offer the YES Network. And it costs $100 per month to get the DirecTV Stream package with YES.
But not all regional sports networks are DirecTV Stream exclusives, as Fubo made a deal with Bally Sports in late 2022. Unfortunately, that deal came with a price increase, as fans who live in any region with a regional sports network will now be charged $11 (one RSN) or $14 (multiple RSNs).
Yes, that's the same Bally Sports that's a part of parent company Diamond Sports, which filed for bankruptcy and is $9 billion in debt.
As for how all of this hits the customer? Hulu's $70 live TV package + the $25 YES package adds up to $95 per month. Unfortunately, baseball fans are getting high prices left and right as MLB.TV's $25 per month package only lets you follow teams playing outside of your region.
At these prices, we wouldn't be shocked if more and more sports fans just decided to not cut the cord.
