An open letter to Comcast and the YES Network

Dear Comcast and the YES Network,

Hello. My name is Danny. I am a 23-year-old Rutgers University graduate working as a high school sports journalist and have been a beyond die hard fan of the Brooklyn, previously, New Jersey, Nets and the New York Yankees my entire sentient life. Unfortunately, I am also a Comcast customer who was deprived of my beloved Nets for virtually the entire season and am now in danger of missing out on the entire 2016 Yankees season as well.

Clearly, neither the YES Network nor Comcast care about their customers enough to stop acting like children arguing who gets to hold the remote, so this open letter may fall upon deaf ears. But alas, perhaps I am a glass half full guy, so here goes nothing.

Let's start with Comcast. Look, I understand your gripe. The YES Network is already one of the most expensive regional sports networks in the country, and now they're seeking a 33% increase in fees. You're also worried that with an increase in fees from YES, your customers will have to pay more. (I also understand part of that increase will go to the Nets in the form of increased TV rights starting in 2017)

Let's cut the you-know-what and establish that you don't give a you-know-what about your customers. You've made it abundantly clear that you couldn't care less about your customers by your glowing customer support track record. This is about one thing: greed. I know it's easy to call out the mega conglomerate on their corporate greed, but it's really getting ridiculous. You're willing to let nearly one million households go without the most popular regional sports network in the country just because your wallets are going to be a little lighter. That's shameful. Oh, but I forgot, you're just the good guys looking out for us customers! Here's looking at you, kid!

Now for YES. You know for a while, I was on your side. It seemed like you guys were getting a raw deal and all you wanted was for Nets and Yankees fans to watch their teams play. You had the purest intentions, and I honestly believe you still do to a degree.

However, when Comcast didn't meet your demands, instead of keeping the negotiations fluid and open, you prompted a gutter war that would make Donald Trump proud. You plastered Port Authority with signs urging Nets and Yankees fans to drop Comcast for another network and you've even paraded Yankee players in front of cameras for your anti-Comcast ads. You reacted how a toddler would when their parent tells them to go to bed when they don't want to. You took a noble fight and turned it into a vengeful, immature pissing match that could permanently jeopardize a chance at a deal.

You may ask, why do you care, Danny? The Nets have been perennial losers for most of your life including this year's dumpster fire and the Yankees have been a disappointment in recent years. That may be true, but the Nets are MY losers. The Yankees are MY disappointment. I think I speak for thousands of fans when I say I'd take a crappy product than no product at all 11 times out of 10.

To combat this farce, I have to invite myself over to the houses of friends who don't have Comcast, assuming they're home or it's convenient for them, or head to the local pub and spend money that I don't have just so I can watch the teams I've so dearly loved since the Clinton administration.

I only have one request. It's a simple one, really. Can both sides have an ounce more maturity than the average spoiled brat and give the negotiations the good ol' college try? Leave the greed, egos and attack ads at the door and get a damn deal done. You've already ruined my Nets season, please don't continue to ruin my Yankees season.

Respectfully,

A crazed and dedicated Nets and Yanks fan