One of the thorniest carriage battles between a sports broadcaster and a major distributor has finally been solved, ultimately keeping much of the status quo.
YES Network has quietly reached a full distribution agreement with Comcast, multiple industry sources confirmed to Front Office Sports, ending a battle that had stretched for nearly a year, required several interim deals to keep live games and studio shows on the air, and even involved Federal Communications Commission chair Brendan Carr.
Most notably, YES Network will remain on expanded basic cable in the New York area with the No. 2 U.S. pay-TV distributor. Comcast had long sought to place the outlet on a more expensive and limited premium programming tier—similar to how it has handled many other regional sports networks around the country.
The local broadcasting home of MLB’s Yankees and the NBA’s Nets, however, resisted that. Not only are Yankees games on YES Network among the most-watched local broadcasts anywhere in the league, but the RSN called out a fairness issue with the crosstown SportsNet New York. That outlet, partially owned by Comcast and the local home of MLB’s Mets, has not been subject to a similar tiering push.
The start of the 2025 baseball season particularly saw a fractious and rather public back-and-forth between the two sides, with Carr ultimately weighing in and urging the two sides to reach “a quick and favorable resolution for the benefit of everyone,” suggesting the possibility of federal involvement.
The presence of Carr in the dispute, happening early in the new term of U.S. President Donald Trump, led to a similar involvement by the FCC chair last year in many other sports-related carriage disputes, including one between YouTube and Fox. That activist mentality quickly captured the notice of many team owners.
Amid that pressure, Comcast and YES Network reached an agreement at the end of March covering the 2025 MLB schedule, and then struck another interim deal that bridged over to the current, fuller pact. Until recently, though, much of the core philosophical divide between the two sides had been unresolved.
The length and financial terms of the new agreement were not disclosed, and both YES Network and Comcast declined to comment. The deal, however, is expected to run at least into 2027.
