Yankees’ YES Network adds new streaming option for cord cutters ahead of Opening Day

YES Network, the cable channel of the New York Yankees, is joining the streaming game. Before Thursday MLB Opening Daythe network announced that it now offers a direct-to-consumer streaming option for local fans who want to watch games without subscribing to a cable or satellite package.

The new option will cost $25 per month if purchased on a monthly subscription or $240 if purchased annually. As part of a special introductory promotion running through April 30, YES will offer the service at a discounted rate of $20 per month (until the end of 2023) or $200 per year.

Once registered, fans will then be able to watch games and other YES programming through the network’s website or its YES app, which is available on iOS, Android, Samsung TVs and smart TV platforms including Apple. TV, Roku, Amazon Fire TV and Google. TV.

In addition to Yankees games, the YES Network also airs games for the NBA’s Brooklyn Nets and WNBA’s New York Liberty. The network says its new streaming option will be available in its “regional coverage territory,” which includes New York State, Connecticut, northeastern Pennsylvania, and northern and central New Jersey.

YES’s move marks the latest major regional sports network to offer an option for cord-cutters who want to watch their local teams without rushing for an expensive cable, satellite or streaming TV package. The new option also comes amid a continued rise in cord cuts and unrest among regional sports networks.

Diamond Sports Group, which owns regional sports networks Bally’s Sports and broadcasts local games for 42 MLB, NBA and NHL teams, filed for bankruptcy earlier this month. Warner Bros. Discovery, which broadcasts games for six teams in all three leagues on its AT&T SportsNet offering, also said earlier this month that it planned to exit the regional sports business.