After months with no games, YES Network faces conflicts between Yankees and Nets

As Shlomo Sprung, writing for Forbes, notes, “Yankees” is part of the YES name, as in the “Yankees Entertainment and Sports Network.” And so, whenever there’s a conflict between the Yankees and Nets, guess who wins out?

And now, with the YES Network’s top teams all playing in the summer (none with fans), there are conflicts on the horizon. As Sprung writes...

The Yankees and Nets both have games on Aug. 5 and 7 at the same time. On the 5th, the Yankees have a 7:05 game in Baltimore against the Orioles and the Nets have a seeding game in Orlando against the Boston Celtics at 9. That game will be broadcast nationally on ESPN but YES has the coverage rights in the local area. On the 7th, the Yankees have a 6:40 road game against the Tampa Bay Rays, while the Nets have a 5:00 seeding game in Orlando against the Sacramento Kings.

The two Nets games will be the fourth and fifth of the eight “seeding” games (just before Michael Beasley will return from his suspension). So what’s a network to do, particularly when sports fans hunger for both MLB and NBA content?

As YES has done in the past, Sprung writes, it’s in contact with “affiliates” in an effort to make overflow channels available on those dates so fans can watch Nets games, according to a network spokesperson. In the past, when there’s been conflicts in April, Nets games have showed up on WOR, aka My9, in New York, or YES2, an overflow feed. In those cases, however, there are no pre- or post-game shows.

Also, there’s no word yet on whether the network will televise any of the Nets three scrimmages on July 22, 25 and 27. Other regional sports networks around the league will broadcast their team’s scrimmages, but there’s no uniform approach. The Yankees have no game on July 22 when the Nets scrimmage against the Pelicans and Zion Williamson. While there is a Nets scrimmage and Yankee game on July 25, they don’t overlap. On July 27, there would be a conflict.

And as Sprung notes, if the Nets make the playoffs as expected, YES holds the rights to broadcast the first round. Moreover, there are other conflicts ahead for YES which broadcasts WNBA and MLS games as well.

Once its schedule is released, it’s possible that YES will also have conflicts between the Yankees and the New York Liberty, which boasts 2020 top overall draft pick Sabrina Ionescu, a superstar in the making. If Major League Soccer has a 2020 season beyond its Orlando MLS Is Back tournament, there could be conflicts between the Yankees and NYCFC during the summer.

All that said, better conflicts than no games!

• YES Network Addresses Conflicts Between Upcoming Yankees, Nets Games - Shlomo Sprung - Forbes Sports