YES Network and MSG Networks are shutting down the Gotham Sports app and moving their direct-to-consumer streaming products to DAZN. The move signals the next phase of regional sports streaming, where rights holders increasingly outsource technology while retaining control of premium local content.
The transition will begin during the 2026-27 NBA and NHL seasons, with Yankees fans remaining on Gotham through the end of the 2026 MLB season. Existing pay TV subscribers will continue receiving authenticated streaming access at no additional cost, while standalone pricing on DAZN hasn’t yet been announced.
Regional Sports Networks Are Separating Rights From Distribution
For years, regional sports networks viewed direct-to-consumer streaming as the natural extension of their business. Owning the rights, the customer relationship and the subscription revenue promised a path beyond the shrinking cable bundle.
Running a streaming service requires a very different business than producing live sports.
Gotham represented a logical attempt by YES and MSG to combine their streaming efforts into a single destination. The service brought together rights for the Yankees, Knicks, Nets, Rangers, Islanders, Devils and Sabres while reducing the need to maintain separate consumer products.
The strategy made sense. Sustaining the product proved more difficult as the economics of regional sports continued to deteriorate. Gotham also faced customer complaints around authentication and streaming performance while competing in a market where consumers increasingly expect polished, reliable streaming experiences.
By moving to DAZN, YES and MSG keep ownership of premium local sports rights while handing product development, payments, customer support, authentication and streaming technology to a company built around those capabilities.
That’s a cleaner division of responsibilities than maintaining proprietary streaming infrastructure.
DAZN Is Expanding Beyond Sports Rights
DAZN has spent years building its U.S. presence through boxing, international soccer and global events. Those properties generated visibility but lacked the viewing frequency that defines local sports.
Regional rights change that dynamic.
Local MLB, NBA and NHL schedules create habitual viewing across six to eight months of the year. Fans don’t subscribe for one event. They return multiple times each week throughout an entire season.
Adding YES and MSG gives DAZN access to some of the country’s strongest local sports audiences while strengthening its position as a distribution, billing and customer-management partner for sports rights holders, alongside operating its own streaming service.
That’s a role likely to become more valuable as additional regional sports businesses evaluate whether maintaining their own streaming technology remains worthwhile.
Gotham’s Exit Reflects the Economics Facing Regional Sports
When Gotham launched in 2024, it represented one of the industry’s more ambitious regional streaming products.
It consolidated multiple teams under one subscription, expanded device availability and later introduced additional pricing options and Prime Video distribution. Those improvements addressed product features, but they didn’t solve the industry’s larger economic challenge.
Cord-cutting continues shrinking the high-margin linear television business that supported regional sports for decades. Maintaining a premium streaming service while that legacy revenue declines requires ongoing technology investment that many rights holders would rather avoid.
The underlying value has never been the app.
It’s the exclusive local rights.
The Streaming Wars Take
The regional sports business is entering its next phase.
The first wave focused on launching direct-to-consumer products. The next wave will focus on deciding which parts of the consumer experience are strategic assets and which are operational costs.
Exclusive local rights remain the differentiator. Streaming infrastructure increasingly looks like a service that can be outsourced.
DAZN strengthens its position inside the U.S. sports ecosystem by becoming more than a rights buyer. YES and MSG reduce operational complexity without giving up control of their premium programming.
The remaining question is who owns the customer relationship. If YES and MSG retain the customer data, billing relationship and merchandising opportunities, DAZN becomes infrastructure. If those functions migrate alongside the streams, DAZN’s leverage grows far beyond video delivery.
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