Table of Contents
- No cable TV contract is required to watch the YES app
- Don’t signup for the YES app if you already pay for cable TV or DIRECTV STREAM “Choice”
- Regional viewing restrictions still apply
- You can’t watch every Yankee game on the YES app
- Why DIRECTV STREAM is a better choice than the YES app for most Yankee fans
As the media has predicted now for months, the New York Yankees have launched a direct-to-consumer streaming service for watching the YES Network. MLB fans in the NY area will have a lot of questions about the new offering, so let’s dive in and run through how the YES Network app works and whether Yankee fans should sign up.
The MLB media landscape is rapidly changing. While some regional sports networks, like the Bally Sports and AT&T Sportsnet RSNs, have been hemorrhaging money, other team owned channels, like NESN and the YES Network are thriving. In launching the YES Network app, the Yankees are following in the footsteps of NESN 360, which is the direct-to-consumer app that airs most Red Sox regular season games to sports fans in the northeast.
No cable TV contract is required to watch the YES app
For the 2023 season, Yankee fans can now watch the Bronx Bombers live without cable direct from the YES app on a web browser, or on most major streaming devices, including Apple TV, Samsung Smart TV, Android, iPhone, Samsung Smart TVs, and more.
Accessing Yankee regular season games is as easy as downloading the app, creating an account, and signing up to pay $24.99 per month (the service is being offered for $19.99 per month until April 30).
Don’t signup for the YES app if you already pay for cable TV or DIRECTV STREAM “Choice”
The signup screen for accessing the YES Network app will confuse many fans.
Why are they asking for my logins when am trying to signup? The signup screen asks for an existing account because, either through a cable TV bundle or DIRECTV STREAM “Choice,” you may already be paying for YES Network.
In these scenarios, you can use your existing cable or DTV logins to watch the YES app at no additional charge. Don’t make the mistake of paying for the YES app if you already have an existing pay TV account.
Regional viewing restrictions still apply
Yankee fans need to understand that the same regional viewing restrictions that apply to the YES Network when viewed as part of a cable TV bundle, or on a live TV streaming service, still apply.
Out-of-market fans can’t watch the Yankees, or any of the other YES Network programming, on the YES app.
For example, if you live in Los Angeles, the Yankee broadcasts will be blacked out on the YES app unless you use a VPN illegally to circumvent the rules. In the easy-to-understand visual below, we have laid out the YES viewing territory so fans can see whether they are in-market for the broadcasts.
You can’t watch every Yankee game on the YES app
While the YES Network app will get Yankee fans in the NY metro area access to most regular season games, there will be major gaps in coverage. For example, Yankee games that appear on TBS, ESPN, YouTube, Peacock, Apple TV+, and yes, Amazon Prime, will be blacked out on the YES app.
MLB fans in NY and NJ can’t watch the MLB playoffs or World Series on the YES app. For this reason, the YES app isn’t going to cut it as a standalone service for most sports fans. As with NESN 360, the pricing is designed to be paired with another live TV streaming service that carries the channels Yankee fans need to watch the team’s nationally televised games.
Why DIRECTV STREAM is a better choice than the YES app for most Yankee fans
In this digital age, most of us manage too many apps, passwords, and logins. We continue to recommend DIRECTV STREAM “Choice” over the YES app for NY sports fans because DIRECTV STREAM is the only service that allows Yankee fans to watch every game from one app. Watching YES Network on DIRECTV STREAM is the simplest choice, and one many older fans may benefit from.
Because the YES app doesn’t have the TV rights to air national Yankee games, fans that want complete coverage will have to pair the YES app with another service, like YouTube TV, that carries the channels that air nationally televised Yankee games.
If you’re ok adding yet another app, then combining the YES app with YouTube TV will get complete coverage of the Yankee’s season and is roughly equivalent.