Hal Steinbrenner, the owner of the New York Yankees, stated that Major League Baseball (MLB) should make its proposed local media rights packages for 2028 optional for teams. Earlier this month, The Athletic reported that MLB plans to create a national package for local rights, allowing streaming companies to bid when the league’s national TV contracts with ESPN, Fox, and Turner expire in 2028.
Steinbrenner confirmed that he has discussed the matter with MLB commissioner Rob Manfred, emphasizing that teams should have a choice about participating in the new deal. “We’ve had discussions with Rob in the past,” Steinbrenner remarked. “He knows my take, which is that at the very least, it needs to be an optional thing, but I’m gonna leave it at that.”
The Yankees’ local broadcast partner, the YES Network, is co-owned by the team along with other investors, including Amazon and Sinclair Broadcast Group. In 2024, the YES Network aired 125 of the Yankees’ 162 regular season games, and the agreement with the network runs through 2042. Additionally, the YES Network has a separate deal with Amazon, allowing Prime Video to broadcast 21 exclusive games last season.
Because of the large New York market and the Yankees’ popularity, the value of their local media rights is significantly higher than that of many other teams. Pooling local rights would benefit smaller-market teams, but big-market franchises like the Yankees and Los Angeles Dodgers, which already have lucrative, long-term deals, might find it less advantageous.
Steinbrenner noted that the Yankees’ current deal with YES Network leaves the team “doing pretty good right now,” and mentioned that the team has not yet fully explored whether participating in MLB’s proposed national package would make sense from a business perspective.
MLB’s plan for 2028 could reduce the number of games shown on YES Network, instead providing more games for exclusive streaming broadcasts. To maximize the value of the package, MLB intends to have as many local games as possible available for streaming. Currently, six MLB teams—Tampa Bay Rays, Detroit Tigers, Atlanta Braves, Los Angeles Angels, Miami Marlins, and St. Louis Cardinals—are on contracts structured with the expectation of the creation of a national package by 2028, according to The Athletic.
