Yankees fans in New Jersey and parts of Connecticut who subscribe to Comcast Xfinity’s cable service will be able to watch the Bronx Bombers this weekend as the YES Network and the telecom giant agreed to extend the deadline to reach a new carriage fee deal — thus averting a blackout for the time being.
YES and Comcast reached agreement to extend the deadline to 11:59 p.m. ET on March 31, delaying the removal of YES Network from Comcast’s lineup, which had originally been set for midnight Friday.
The Yankees opened up the season at home on Thursday with a win over the Milwaukee Brewers at Yankee Stadium.
The Bombers are off on Friday though they will resume their three-game set against the Brew Crew in the Bronx on Saturday and Sunday.
Both weekend games against the Brewers will air on the YES Network.
News of the agreement was first reported on Friday by Shore News Network.
According to the news site, this is the 10th time that the two sides have agreed to a temporary deadline extension.
As of January 2023, Comcast served approximately 878,797 cable subscribers in New Jersey, according to state government records.
Comcast does not provide exact figures for the numbers of subscribers in New York or Connecticut — though its presence in the Empire State is negligible, according to sources with knowledge of the situation.
The dispute over carriage fees boils down to dollars and cents as Comcast wants to move the YES Network from its basic cable tier to its higher-price digital package.
According to a person in the know, Xfinity basic cable subscribers pay anywhere between $7 and $11 per subscriber to carry the YES Network — while the company says that viewership of the regional sports network doesn’t justify those fees.
A source close to the situation said that Comcast wants to kick YES off of its basic cable tier and give subscribers who already paid for their services a monthly credit that would offset the fees that they were charged.
Those interested in watching YES could pony up additional money for its higher-priced digital tier which includes MLB TV, NHL Network, CBS Sports Network, NBA Network, TNT, TBS and FS1 — among other channels.
The Post has sought comment from YES. A Comcast spokesperson declined to comment.
YES, which also airs Brooklyn Nets basketball games, is owned by a consortium of interests that includes the Yankees, Amazon, Blackstone and RedBird Capital Partners.
Comcast, the Philadelphia-based media behemoth, is a $160 billion conglomerate whose properties include NBCUniversal, the British telecom network Sky Group and Xfinity, its US-based consumer brand offering cable television, internet and wireless service.
As of the fourth quarter of 2024, Comcast boasted 12.5 million cable subscribers nationwide.
But like other media giants, Comcast has had to wrestle with an ever-changing landscape in which viewers are cutting the cord and migrating away from cable and toward direct-to-consumer offerings.
Regional sports network such as YES, Bally Sports and Madison Square Garden Networks have had to contend with shrinking revenue streams as cable networks balk at continuing to pay carriage fees in the era of cord-cutting.
Comcast has already booted MSG off of its systems entirely after the two sides failed to reach agreement on renewing their carriage fee deal.
The company wants to relegate YES to its digital tier — just as it did to other networks, such as NBC Sports Bay Area and NBC Sports Boston.
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