The joint venture launched by MSG Networks and the YES Network earlier this year is debuting a new app that will unify the standalone streaming products of both media operations.
On Wednesday, Gotham Advanced Media and Entertainment (GAME) announced the forthcoming debut of the Gotham Sports App, which will marry the standalone MSG Plus and YES App into a single over-the-top destination, by which streamers can watch live events and shoulder programming from the joint venture owners’ channels.
Set to launch in the fall, Gotham Sports App will offer subscription to MSG Plus and the YES App, while effectively merging the two services into one. Once it does, Gotham Sports will offer three subscriptions — one to MSG Plus, one to YES App and another called the “Gotham Package” that unlocks access to both services.
It isn’t clear why the streaming service is keeping the branding of the two other services. In a press release on Wednesday, officials from GAME said the Gotham Sports app will serve as the “exclusive regional TV Everywhere and direct to consumer home” for the channels, suggesting the standalone MSG Plus app and Yes App will eventually go away.
In any case, sports fans who live within the broadcast region of MSG Networks and YES Network — Connecticut, New York and portions of New Jersey and Pennsylvania — will be able to purchase standalone access to YES Network or the multiplex MSG Networks through the Gotham Sports App at the following prices:
- MSG GamePass: $10 per game
- MSG Plus: $30 per month or $280 per year
- YES App: $25 per month or $240 per year
- Gotham Package: $42 per month or $360 per year
Customers who subscribe to a partner cable, satellite or streaming cable-like service and who have MSG Networks or YES Network as part of their plan will be able to stream the channels available to them through Gotham Sports, without any additional payment needed. Between the two services, customers will have live access to locally-televised games played by the New York Knicks, New York Rangers, New Jersey Devils, New York Islanders, Buffalo Sabres, Brooklyn Nets and New York Yankees.
“We are excited through GAME to bring New York area fans their favorite teams in one state-of-the-art app,” Andrea Greenberg, the President and CEO of MSG Networks, said 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.”
“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,” Jon Litner, the CEO of YES Network, said 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.”
The Gotham Sports App will debut later this year on most major streaming platforms, including Apple TV, Android TV (Google TV), Amazon Fire TV and Roku, as well as all popular smartphones and tablets, with plans to roll out to additional smart TV and connected video platforms in the future.
