Hello… Yankees Considering Buying Back the YES Network

It just sounds weird to say that the New York Yankees are considering buying back the YANKEES Entertainment and Sports Network, more commonly known as the YES Network, but it is true. The Yankees are considering buying back the YES Network from 21^st Century Fox Inc.

The Yankees sold off their control of the YES Network four years ago to Rupert Murdoch’s FOX company with a clause in the agreement that gave the Yankees the right to buy back the network in the event that FOX puts it up for sale. FOX owns 80% of the YES Network and saw Comcast Corp. make a $65 billion bid for FOX’s entertainment assets, including YES and other regional sports networks. This offer came after Walt Disney Co. bid $52.4 million for those same sports assets.

Some have speculated that it would cost the Yankees $4 billion to buy back the YES Network after selling 31% to FOX in 2014 for $3.8 billion, bumping FOX’s total control to 80% of the company with the Yankee Global Enterprises corporation owning the other 20%. If Comcast and Disney begin a bidding war with FOX we could easily see that number rise, so stay tuned.

And a special good morning to you, my love and my soulmate. I love you with all my heart and all my soul. I always have, and I always will Kari. I cannot wait to make you my Kari Ann Burch.

YES Network Returns to Comcast, Finally

Yankees fans who have Comcast, don’t fret. The return is coming and it’s coming on March 31, 2017 as the YES Network makes its triumphant return to Comcast customers after missing the entire 2016 season. Conveniently the New York Yankees and Atlanta Braves will play their exhibition game to open up newly built SunTrust Park in Atlanta on that day, or maybe not so conveniently.

Yankees Opening Day baseball will come on April 2 against the Tampa Bay Rays and can also be seen on YES at 1:10 pm ET. In face the first two weeks of baseball will all be on YES so Comcast customers get ready, the Yankees are finally coming back into your homes. It’s been too long. 

FYI: Comcast Drops the YES Network

Is your television provider Comcast? If so I have some bad news for you that you may or may not already know. Comcast is set to drop the YES Network immediately leaving you without your home for the New York Yankees, Brooklyn Nets and New York FC soccer club. Due to a dispute over fees, imagine that, Comcast is blacking out the YES Network in certain areas of Northern New Jersey, Connecticut and Pennsylvania.

According to the report I read approximately 900,000 cable customers have been affected by the blackout as many missed the New Jersey Nets game against the Charlotte Bobcats on Wednesday.

YES is said to be asking for a 33% fee increase that Comcast doesn’t want to pass down to their customers. Just as an FYI it is FOX and no longer the New York Yankees and the Steinbrenner family that owns the majority in the YES Network. Fox owns 80% of the YES Network while the New York Yankees control the rest.

Here is a direct quote from YES:

"Comcast's reputation for poor customer satisfaction is well known, but this surprise development represents a new low. YES and Comcast reached an agreement in principle on the key points of a new contract many months ago, and YES continued to operate in good faith under that arrangement through the entire Yankees and NYC FC seasons and into the Nets season.

"Unfortunately, because YES will not yield to Comcast's demands for special treatment and anti-competitive terms, Comcast has decided to drop YES Network and its coverage of the NY Yankees, Brooklyn Nets and the New York City FC."