MSG Networks and YES Network are teaming up for a new offering in the regional sports streaming game.
Earlier this year the two formed a digital joint venture, Gotham Advanced Media and Entertainment (GAME), which on Wednesday announced plans to launch the Gotham Sports app this fall ahead of the regular NBA and NHL seasons.
The Gotham Sports app will house the standalone MSG+ and YES apps together, serving as the exclusive regional TV Everywhere (TVE) app for those with authenticated pay TV credentials and direct-to-consumer streamer of each service’s programming. Programming features games for local fans for professional NBA, NHL and MLB including the New York Knicks, New York Rangers, New Jersey Devils, New York Islanders, Buffalo Sabres, Brooklyn Nets, and New York Yankees.
The Gotham Sports app offers three options for fans in regional coverage territories, including the option to purchase the existing MSG+ and YES App services (which each launched last year) as standalones, or combined in the Gotham Sports package that includes both services at a discounted price of $41.99 per month or $359.99 per year.
On a standalone basis, fans can get the MSG+ app from Gotham for $29.99 per month or $279.99 per year (with the option for a $10 Gamepass add-on), and the YES App for $24.99 per month or $239.99 per year.
Those that subscribe to MSG Networks and YES through their traditional pay TV providers and live within MSG and YES regional coverage territories – which include New York state, Connecticut, north and central New Jersey and northeastern Pennsylvania - can get the Gotham Sports app at no extra cost.
At launch, the app is available on Amazon Fire TV, Roku, Apple TV, Android TV, iOS and Android and the web.
Part of the aim is to create a more unified home for New York-area fans, as sports rights and games have become fragmented across services and platforms.
“We are excited through GAME to bring New York area fans their favorite teams in one state-of-the-art app,” said Andrea Greenberg, president and CEO of MSG Networks, in a statement. “With the increased fragmentation of outlets carrying fan favorite sports programming, The Gotham Sports App allows fans of our teams one easy access point for New York area sporting events from MSG Networks and the YES Network."
GAME is also promising enhanced user experiences within the app, which will feature an advanced app-based live stats package, free-to-play real-time games, a loyalty program with rewards points, and one-stop access to local teams.
“The new Gotham Sports App will deploy GAME's best-in-class technology to deliver a greatly enhanced fan experience, showcasing the best in New York sports all in one place," said Jon Litner, CEO of YES Network, in a statement. "The app, which will be free to our distributors' authenticated customers, will provide one convenient digital destination for our programming services and for fans of some of the most iconic teams in all of sports."
YES Network and MSG Networks formed their 50-50 joint venture at the start of the year. An aim of the JV is to help each entity better pursue streaming efforts and capitalize on associated operational synergies as they lean on combined expertise gained from respective launches of their standalone MSG+ and YES apps.
And delivering a combined app isn’t the only objective, as Greenberg in January previously noted plans to not only enhance their own products “but also to offer other networks, teams and sports properties an efficient way to launch a state-of-the-art streaming service.”
The regional sports streaming app comes against the backdrop of the traditional regional sports network (RSN) model on pay TV under pressure amid broader cable bundle declines. RSN woes are also evident through the ongoing Chapter 11 bankruptcy of troubled the Diamond Sports Group (DSG). Challenges for RSNs on cable, along with viewers shifting to streaming, has led to certain teams launching their own local direct-to-consumer services and some striking deals with local broadcasters as they seek wider audiences.
In a recent column on StreamTV Insider, TVREV analyst Alan Wolk unpacked the decision by the NBA’s New Orleans Pelicans to abandon the embattled DSG in favor of a new deal with Gray Television.
Looking at macro trends, Wolk suggested that streaming RSNs are still a few years away.
“Some teams may be able to make it work, but the interest and infrastructure are not there yet, especially in smaller markets like New Orleans,” wrote Wolk. “Give it a few more years though, and it will definitely become a thing. Whether that ‘thing’ is a league-run app or a rebirth of DSG and other RSNs remains to be seen, but our money is on the leagues.”