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<\/p>\nSmithtown’s Ben Jaekle sat down to watch the first Yankees spring training game on Feb. 20. It was only available on the Gotham Sports App.<\/p>\n
A sure sign of spring for winter-weary Yankees fans.<\/p>\n
\u201cI turn on my TV and then I’m hit with the screen freezing,\u201d Jaekle said. \u201cIt wouldn’t log me in. After trying for 20-30 minutes. I gave up.\u201d<\/p>\n
This, apparently, is not a unique experience for some Gotham Sports App users.<\/p>\n
The Gotham Sports App launched just before the 2024 NHL and NBA seasons when YES Network and MSG Networks combined the YES and MSG+ apps. The app is equally co-owned by the networks. It streams every game that appears on the networks for six of the New York City area\u2019s sports teams (the Yankees, Nets, Knicks, Rangers, Islanders and Devils, and in some markets, the Buffalo Sabres), plus other programming. It does not stream games that are not on MSG or YES.<\/p>\n
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A screenshot of the Gotham Sports App’s main menu before a Yankees spring training game. <\/p>\n
Phil Bellomo of Massapequa, who watches Yankees and Islanders games on the app, said: \u201cOnce I\u2019m able to actually log in, I\u2019m confident that I can watch the game. Just getting there is the real issue. It\u2019s like, \u2018OK, I\u2019m ready, I fed my kids, I\u2019m done with my work. Let me sit down and I\u2019m like, I have a little anxiety: Is this going to come on right away? Am I going to have to wait 15 minutes to reauthenticate? Am I going to have to send myself an email? Is it actually going to work this time?\u2019 \u201d<\/p>\n
Social media is full of stories like this when the app has issues.<\/p>\n
But the app is undergoing a surge in viewership after a recent price drop, according to data provided to Newsday by MSG and YES. The app is free if you already have YES and\/or MSG through a participating provider. You pay for it if you don\u2019t, as much as $299.99 for one year after the recent price drop from $359.99, or $34.99 per month (down from $41.99).<\/p>\n
Surge in viewership<\/p>\n
On March 31, all seven teams had their games streamed on the app for the third time in its history. On that day, the app achieved its highest single-day total minutes streamed (23% higher than any other day) and a new single-day high in unique users (21% higher than any other day).<\/p>\n
\u201cI think it\u2019s great,\u201d said Noel Eisenberg, a Knicks fan who splits his time between Brooklyn and Mamaroneck. \u201cI really have found it not to be that buggy and I use it frequently. I guess I\u2019m the one.\u201d<\/p>\n
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A screenshot view of the Knicks vs. Nets game on March 21 on the Gotham Sports App. <\/p>\n
There must be others: According to MSG and YES, overall app viewership is up 29% year over year, minutes streamed per user is up 28%, and customer satisfaction for the 90-day period through Feb. 25 was up 67% relative to the launch period, which started in October 2024.<\/p>\n
Even with the issues, average viewership for the Yankees\u2019 first five spring training games on the app was up 87.6% over the entire Gotham Sports App spring training schedule from 2025.<\/p>\n
Islanders viewership is up 99% and the Knicks are up 44%.<\/p>\n
A screenshot of the login screen on the Gotham Sports App. <\/p>\n
\u201cI think it’s doing quite well,\u201d said Matt Duarte, YES Network\u2019s vice president for strategy and development. \u201cI think from the business perspective, we’re seeing a ton of interest in our teams from a viewership perspective, as well as time spent, and some metrics that we’ve seen in terms of growth year over year.\u00a0 I think it is due to interest in the teams and in the actual viewing experience and also due to some of the features, functionality and experience that I think we’ve continue to hone since we launched the app in October 2024.\u201d<\/p>\n
Gary Harding, an Islanders season ticket holder from Halesite, said he sometimes watches the start of night games on the LIRR during a late commute from Manhattan.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s very convenient,\u201d he said. \u201cEven on the train, I have no issues with the [app]. No issues with the bandwidth or anything like that. I really think the quality is good. I’m pleased with it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIn general, the app is decent,\u201d said Chris Snel of Point Pleasant Borough, N.J., who watches Knicks games on it. \u201cI\u2019d say it works, I don\u2019t know, three quarters of the time. Every app has its issues, right?\u201d<\/p>\n
One of those issues: Snel wanted to watch the Knicks play at Denver on March 6. He fired up the Gotham Sports App, and couldn’t get it to work.<\/p>\n
“It just gave me the spinning wheel,” he said.<\/p>\n
Since the game was a 9 p.m. start, Snel gave up and called it a night.<\/p>\n
Sean Murphy of New City, N.Y., who watches the Yankees, Knicks and Rangers on the app, was able to cut the cord and ditch cable when it became available.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat was a huge savings,\u201d Murphy said, \u201cbecause [sports] was the only reason I had cable . . . I think it\u2019s great. I think it\u2019s seamless. I\u2019m able to pick whatever game that I want to watch and it takes me right there and it\u2019s pretty seamless. As far as lag time or anything, I don\u2019t have any issues. I would for sure recommend it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Reviews are mixed<\/p>\n
The app is an ambitious step in housing direct-to-consumer live sports in one place. <\/p>\n
On Feb. 20, the companies introduced lower-priced YES-only packages with special offers through April 15. Six days later, the app was added for purchase through Amazon\u2019s Prime Video service, expanding its reach.<\/p>\n
In theory, the Gotham Sports App should make life easier for New York sports fans who want most of their favorite team or teams\u2019 games available in one place.<\/p>\n
And it is. When it works.<\/p>\n
When it doesn’t work, its customers have a litany of complaints.<\/p>\n
“It crashes,” Jaekle said. “It constantly kicks you out and forces you to log back in. Even when you are in, the screen will freeze, so there’ll be a delay if you’re watching like a live game and maybe you want to rewind. It freezes up and locks up with that. In short, just very, very poor performance.”<\/p>\n
A screenshot of an error page on the Gotham Sports App. Credit: Phil Bellomo<\/p>\n
Daniel Kelly II, the associate dean and clinical professor at the Preston Robert Tisch Institute for Global Sport at NYU School of Professional Studies, isn\u2019t just an expert. He watches the Knicks on the app.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think overall, it is ambitious,\u201d he said. \u201cIt’s a highly intuitive and comprehensive effort to move from traditional cable over to digital, live streaming. I love it. I love the concept. I love everything about it. For me as someone who cut the cord proverbially and moved over from subscriptions and cable over to live streaming, this falls in alignment to the way I consume sport.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe glitchiness is a part of it. I\u2019ve had glitchy issues with live streaming sports. So I think that for me, that’s a part of the experience. The price point is a bit high. I think that’s kind of where, if I’m paying this price point, I do want the service to be at the level it was before with cable.\u201d<\/p>\n
App store reviews are mixed. As of April 1, the app had a rating of 4.2 out of five stars on the Apple App Store (just under 8,000 reviews).<\/p>\n
But as of that date 49 of the 55 listed reviews from March were one star (the lowest rating possible), four were two stars, and two were five stars.<\/p>\n
The five-star ones had the subject lines, \u201cMuch much better\u201d and \u201cI love it.\u201d<\/p>\n
The one-star ones had subject lines such as, \u201cJust frustrating,\u201d \u201cTerrible App,\u201d \u201cWorst App Ever\u201d and \u201cCurrent version does not work.\u201d<\/p>\n
The app had 2 stars on Google Play in far fewer reviews (just under 2,000).<\/p>\n
Every review was answered by a Gotham Sports App representative inviting the customer to reach out via phone or email for support if needed.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhether it’s the app stores,\u201d Duarte said, \u201cwhether it’s social media, whether it’s direct phone calls, chat, emails, we are extraordinarily diligent \u2014 our live ops team, I should say, giving them the credit \u2014 in terms of responding, being responsive and trying to learn and understand what’s going wrong.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt the end of the day, it\u2019s hard, right? Streaming in sports, it’s a hard business that we’re continuing to improve upon, and we want to understand what we can be doing better and how to address it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Improving the app<\/p>\n
Two days after Jaekle had to give up on watching the Yankees\u2019 spring opener, a blizzard hit New York with more than 30 inches falling in some places on Long Island.<\/p>\n
The Yankees were playing the Mets in another Gotham Sports App exclusive. It drew the highest spring training streaming audience in YES history (including the YES App) with a 59% increase over the previous record.<\/p>\n
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