SportsNet New York, the television home of the New York Mets and New York Jets, canceled its daily “SportsNite” and “Baseball Night in New York” studio programs, Sports Media Watch has confirmed.
Launched along with the network itself in 2006, “SportsNite” was a daily sports news and highlights show that would feature game recaps, reporting and analysis on the professional and collegiate teams in the New York metropolitan area. It was the only daily New York sports news studio program among the three RSNs in the market.
“Baseball Night in New York” was a half-hour studio show that discussed news, rumors and insights about the Mets and Yankees airing throughout the year. The show went through several early iterations before moving into a daily studio format hosted by Sal Licata.
Marc Carig and Andrew Marchand of The Athletic reported that SNY “laid off much of its editorial staff” on Friday. The network’s website has been altered to include information on its programming rather than articles about the local sports teams. SNY insiders, including Chelsea Janes, Connor Hughes and Ian Begley, are reportedly staying with the network.
While it will no longer air the studio programs, SNY will continue to carry original content, including Mets and Jets pre and postgame coverage. The network will also continue to air its midweek Jets program and “Mets Hot Stove,” plus syndicated content from WFAN.
“As part of our regular review of our business, operations and programming, SNY has decided to cease broadcasting Baseball Night in New York and SportsNite,” SNY said in a statement provided to Sports Media Watch. “We are grateful to those team members that helped bring these programs to fans for many years. Ongoing coverage of the Mets and New York sports are at the heart of SNY’s business, and we remain focused on continuing to deliver high-quality content to our passionate fans.”
Lauren Thomas of The Wall Street Journal had reported last April that SNY was exploring a variety of deals, “including an outright sale,” and had “hired bankers at Moelis to conduct a process to find new financial backers.” The network is owned by Sterling Entertainment Enterprises, which is controlled by the Wilpon and Katz families, who formerly held majority ownership of the Mets.
Lillian Rizzo of CNBC reported earlier this year that Comcast sold its stake in SNY to Charter Communications. Rizzo added that SNY has a long-term carriage agreement with Comcast that prevents it from being tiered, akin to many other regional sports networks, “through at least 2030.”
The decisions by SNY mirror the fate of several regional sports networks that have cut back on original programming in recent years as the business model has endured fundamental change. MSG Networks and YES Network, the two other RSNs operating in the New York metropolitan area, do not air daily sports news-style programs. All the networks have original programming, though much of it is tied around live game broadcasts and local team rights.
SNY launched a direct-to-consumer option under a partnership with Major League Baseball prior to the 2025 season that costs $25/month or $150/year. The network remains available through a variety of vMVPDs and cable providers, among them DirecTV, Fubo and Hulu + Live TV. YouTube TV dropped SNY in June 2023 and has not carried the network since.
