Having both ramped up their streaming tech wherewithal to take their respective regional sports networks over the top, the YES Network and MSG Networks are teaming on a new joint venture, Gotham Advanced Media and Entertainment.
According to an announcement published by both companies Thursday, “GAME,” as it will be acronym-ically known, will “offer turnkey digital content distribution services, including platform technology, operational support and comprehensive data analytics to third parties, utilizing the combined technical and operational expertise each company has garnered from the respective successful launch and operation of the YES App and MSG Plus.”
Major League Baseball's New York Yankees are the majority owners of the club's RSN, the YES Network, which has Sinclair Broadcast Group, Amazon and various private-equity interests as minority owners. The YES Network, which is also the RSN home of the NBA's New York Nets, launched a $16.99-a-month direct-to-consumer app back in March of last year.
MSG Entertainment, which was spun off by the erstwhile Cablevision, took MSG Network — RSN home of the New York Knicks, New York Rangers, New York Islanders, New Jersey Devils, New York Red Bulls and Buffalo Sabres — DTC last summer.
The JV is somewhat reminiscent of Major League Baseball's formation of MLB Advanced Media after the league began developing pioneering live-streaming tech back in the aughts. That subsidiary, later rebranded as BAMTech, was sold to Disney back in 2016 for $1 billion.
“As we continue to capitalize on the momentum created by YES’ award-winning digital offerings, we look forward to collaborating with MSG Networks to further elevate the fan experience,” YES Network CEO Jon Litner said in a statement. “With the launch of GAME, we are excited to develop new product offerings, and premium features and functionality, to serve audiences like never before, while also providing a scalable tech solution for third-party content owners seeking to deliver state-of-the-art streaming experiences to their customers.”
