When the FOX Sports GO app sunset, YES Network had a decision to make—join forces with the Bally Sports RSNs (as it has done previously) or fly solo. It chartered a new path, opting to build its own app so it could build a one-to-one relationship with customers and control its own destiny. There’s a reason the harder choice is called the road less traveled: In pivoting from FOX Sports GO to the YES App on the 2021 Yankees Opening Day, YES started with zero downloads and zero users.
YES executed against its strategy by rolling out new features and functionality with a phased approach over the past six months: the app launched on Yankees opening day in April; YES Edge (live interactive version 1.0) launched in June; picture-in-picture and YES Pick-N-Play (free to play game) launched in August; enhanced YES Edge (live interactive stats and Watch Party) launched on Nets opening day in October. Hard work pays off, with the YES App seeing a more than 249% uptick in unique viewers than when it was streamed on FOX Sports GO. It ranked as the #1 sports app in the Apple App Store on launch and app revenue increased 175% YOY vs when YES was streamed on FOX Sports GO.
“The YES App has offered us the flexibility to create a daily digital destination that is authentic to the YES brand and completely optimized for the fans of our teams. We have been able to go far beyond streaming live sports—we have executed against our strategic roadmap to deliver a truly unique user experience, implementing engaging features like Live Stats, Pick-N-Play Live and Watch Party, while also producing app-exclusive live / video on demand content,” explains Matt Duarte, VP of Strategy and Business Development for YES. “Being independent allowed us to explore a variety of ideas and work with a variety of best-in breed technology partners to attract users to the platform and utilize data to keep them engaging with the app on a daily basis.”