MLB chaos at start of season as Yankees face TV blackout over broadcast dispute

NEW York Yankees fans could miss out on Bronx Bomber games for the upcoming season.

MLB fans will soon be affected by a TV blackout from a network.

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Comcast’s contract with YES Network, which airs Yankees games and the NBA’s Brooklyn Nets, is set to expire after 11:59 pm Eastern on Thursday night, per Front Office Sports.

If a deal isn’t reached, the No. 1 US cable carrier Comcast will not be available for subscribers in the New York media market.

And that would mean Yankees fans can’t watch Saturday’s home game against the Milwaukee Brewers.

Sources told the outlet that the two parties “have reached a lengthy series of short-term extensions and are still talking,” but “they remain far apart on several key issues.

Comcast has pushed to alter regional sports networks across the country.

For the past two years, the network has put close to two dozen other RSNs on more costly premium cable tiers.

That task has affected Mid-Atlantic Sports Network, SportsNet Pittsburgh, Root Sports Northwest in Seattle, and Altitude Sports in Denver, among another big outlets.

YES Network is the latest to be included in the effort.

The Yankees and Nets network has been one of the most-watched RSNs in the entire industry.

Luckily for Yankees fans, they can watch the team’s Opening Day Thursday game on ESPN.

The game is also a special broadcast featuring Monday Night Football broadcaster Joe Buck.

Comcast and the YES Network have a history of contract battles.

The RSN went dark between November 2015 and March 2017.

Comcast has also kept the separate MSG Networks in the New York market dark since October 2021 due to a still-unresolved dispute.

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Sinclair, who’s a commercial agent of the YES Network, will handle the carriage negotiations for the RSN.

The tiering problem is rising with Comcast, but not yet for SportsNet New York, which broadcasts the New York Mets.

While SNY’s current carriage deal with Comcast isn’t expiring, a similar dispute may occur in the future.

The Yankees are coming off a 2024 season in which they made the World Series, where they lost to the Los Angeles Dodgers in five games.