Breaking: YES, MSG Announce Joint Venture to Help Other Sports Rights Holders Break Into Streaming

Sports and business often make strange bedfellows, and it looks like we can add another unexpected pairing to the list. On Thursday, the two leaders in New York sports broadcasting the YES Network and MSG Networks announced that they have formed a new streaming joint venture appropriately called Gotham Advanced Media and Entertainment (GAME). Both YES and MSG have launched their own standalone streaming services, so the NYC-based companies are joining forces to offer their combined content distribution services to third-party content owners. As of now, it does not appear that the YES App and MSG+ will be merging or partnering in any way, but you never know what could happen now that they are working together on a streaming project.

• The joint venture will pull together the expertise both companies have from launching their individual streamers.
• Gotham Advanced Media and Entertainment will aim to help third-party content owners launch and expand their streaming presence.
• There does not appear to be any plans for the YES App and MSG+ to merge.

The new joint venture will be an equal partnership between the two companies designed to offer digital content distribution services, including platform technology, operational support, and data analytics to third-party sports content providers. GAME will utilize the combined technical and operational insight from both YES and MSG that they gained during the process of launching their respective streaming services the YES App and MSG+.

“As we continue to capitalize on the momentum created by YES’ award-winning digital offerings, we look forward to collaborating with MSG Networks to further elevate the fan experience,” YES Network CEO Jon Litner said. “With the launch of GAME, we are excited to develop new product offerings, and premium features and functionality, to serve audiences like never before, while also providing a scalable tech solution for third-party content owners seeking to deliver state-of-the-art streaming experiences to their customers.”

GAME believes that future clients will be able to utilize a broad range of streaming services, all of which would be run centrally by an expert staff experienced in live sports streaming. The streaming products that GAME will offer will be fully customizeable and capable of delivering locally branded viewing experiences for customers, so they don’t need to be New York-based benefit from the company’s offerings.

“This joint venture with YES will combine the streaming expertise of two of the largest regional sports networks in the country,” MSG Networks president and CEO Andrea Greenberg said. “With the formation of GAME, we seek to marry our collective insight, expertise and best-in-class technology not only to explore enhancements to our own products, but also to offer other networks, teams and sports properties an efficient way to launch a state-of-the-art streaming service. We are excited to partner with YES to create solutions for third-party content providers looking for a seamless way to reach new audiences.”

This is not the first joint venture between two seemingly rival competitors. Nearly two years ago, cable giants Comcast and Charter announced a project that would utilize both companies’ technological expertise to launch a “next-generation streaming platform.” That project eventually became the Xumo, which is now available to millions of customers across a number of TV providers.

While the YES and MSG joint venture will not result in a combination of their already-launched streaming services, by bringing together each company’s respective experiences and expertise, they have the opportunity to help create something new to benefit both streaming creators and customers.

In the meantime, the two channels will continue to broadcast the Yankees, Mets, Knicks, Nets, Rangers, Islanders, Liberty, Devils, Sabres, and the rest of the Big Apple’s favorite teams.