1. Despite the mentality of their fanbases and those in the content business, the New York Mets and New York Yankees are not really on-field rivals. It makes for a good storyline since they play just a few miles from each other, but the Yankees are in the American League and the Mets are in the National League, so unless they ever meet in the World Series, neither team is really affected by the other when it comes to standings, records and all the things that matter.
The more interesting rivalry between the Mets and Yankees for those of us who are sports media nerds is between their respective regional sports networks, SNY and YES.
Sports Business Journal’s Austin Karp dropped quite a bombshell on Thursday regarding last weekend’s Mets-Yankees series in which all three games aired locally in New York on both SNY and YES.
The @Mets-@Yankees rivalry getting hotter
— Austin Karp (@AustinKarp) July 10, 2025
3 Subway Series games from July 4-6 averaged 356,000 viewers on @SNYtv, +70% over what YES Network drew for series
SNY was 154% better among adults 25-54, and 166% better among adults 18-34
Also best July 4 game ever on @MLBNetwork pic.twitter.com/g4ptUzOeT4
SEVENTY PERCENT. That is an absolutely insane difference. If that number was 10% or 20% or even 30%, it would be notable, but not flabbergasting. Seventy percent is cause for deep analysis.
The problem is that no matter how much you analyze it, you still can’t figure out why 70% more people in the New York area would watch the Mets-Yankees series on SNY instead of YES.
I retweeted Karp’s piece of ratings information on Thursday and was blown away by how much engagement I got. Unfortunately, a lot of the engagement came in the form of terribly thought out replies, so let me address some of them.
• Yes, the SNY telecasts, from production to the broadcast booth, is not just better than YES.—it’s superior. It doesn’t get any better when it comes to a local MLB booth than Gary Cohen, Keith Hernandez and Ron Darling. The YES booth features a bevy of broadcasters, you don’t know who is doing the game on a day-to-day basis and the YES telecasts, to me, feel stale and tired.
Yankees fans do not have the connection with their TV booth that Mets fans have with their TV booth. Yankees fans had that connection with the radio booth, but then John Sterling retired last year, so that’s gone, too.
This still doesn’t answer for a 70% difference. I’m a Yankees fan and whenever I watch a Subway Series, I always watch the SNY broadcast. But 70% of Yankees fans are not doing that.
• I also had wacky Yankees fans telling me the series means more to the Mets and that the Subway Series is the Mets fan’s World Series and Yankees fans don’t care about the Subway Series.
Obviously, this is nonsensical. (Ironically, I did not see one pitch of the Mets-Yankees series because it was 4th of July weekend and I wasn’t home during any of the three games.)
But if your theory is that SNY drew 70% more viewers because only Yankees fans blew off the series, you’re clueless. It was also 4th of July weekend for Mets fans.
• There were many fans who told me a reason for the massive discrepancy in viewers was because the Yankees app to watch games is terrible and the Mets games are easy to access on Hulu. While I agree that the Yankees app is a debacle, you have to be incredibly dumb to think this would make for a 70% difference.
• Speaking of dumb, this might have been my favorite ridiculous response.
Considering the Mets were the home team duh 😆🤦♂️ When people go research games it shows the network of the home team! Check the ratings when the Yankees play the Mets in Yankee Stadium
— CoreZotick 😈🏀-💛🏈-🗽⚾ (@DukeYanksSteels) July 11, 2025
Yes, the reason for the 70% difference between SNY viewership and YES viewership was because of TV listings. Sure. Makes total sense.
Here’s the bottom line with this topic. We’d all like to know the reason why SNY drew 70% more viewers for the three-game Subway Series than the YES Network. Personally, I’m dying to know. But we will never know because, ultimately, it had to be a combination of many, many things that caused the difference, not just one thing.
2. Speaking of Elaine Benes’s ex-boyfriend, you have to see his reaction to a foul ball coming into the SNY booth during Thursday’s Mets-Orioles game.
LOOK OUT KEITH!
— SNY (@SNYtv) July 10, 2025
Keith Hernandez was almost hit with a foul ball...and didn't react in time 🤣 pic.twitter.com/jor8cvaQn8
3. This week’s SI Media With Jimmy Traina podcast features a conversation with ESPN’s Dan Orlovsky.
Orlovsky talks about signing a new, four-year deal with ESPN after being a free-agent for a few months, whether he came close to leaving ESPN, why he decided to stay at ESPN and why calling games is ultimately his main goal.
In addition, Orlovsky explains what an NFL Sunday is like for him, how he watches the slate of games and how he breaks down film.
Orlovsky also discusses why he was “furious” when he lost the Sports Emmy for Best Analyst to Charles Barkley, attending the surprise Taylor Swift performance at Tight End University and his notorious food takes.
Following Orlovsky, Sal Licata from WFAN radio and SNY TV in New York joins me for our weekly “Traina Thoughts” segment. This week, we discuss the Yankees airing on Amazon Prime, the Savannah Bananas and The Bear. In addition, we answer listener emails.
You can listen to the SI Media With Jimmy Traina podcast below or on Apple and Spotify.
4. Amazon Prime announced its NBA broadcast roster on Thursday. Here’s who will be calling the games when Amazon’s coverage begins in October:.
Play-by-play: Ian Eagle, Kevin Harlan, Michael Grady and Eric Collins
Analysts: Stan Van Gundy, Brent Barry and Dell Curry.
Sideline reporters: Cassidy Hubbarth, Kristina Pink and Allie Clifton.
From a play-by-play standpoint, this is one hell of a roster. Prediction: Eric Collins, who called Hornets games locally, will end up a huge fan favorite, nationally.
5. People really wanted to see Cooper Flagg and Bronny James go against each other in an exhibition game Thursday night.
Bronny James vs Cooper Flagg has to be the wildest graphic header I’ve ever seen pic.twitter.com/Qk0iY1mcPv
— ☘️ (@celticsruinedme) July 11, 2025
6. There was a major tabloid battle on Thursday over the Tom Brady-Sofia Vergara possible romance. The Daily Mail reported that Brady thinks Vergara is too old and can only handle Vergara in small doses.
Tom Brady thinks Sofia Vergara is 'too OLD': Their 'summer romance' collapses... as friends reveal his other two-word verdict that's even more savage https://t.co/mahwaUiQeO
— Daily Mail US (@Daily_MailUS) July 10, 2025
Brady’s reps actually responded to the Daily Mail story and told the New York Post that Brady “never said, nor would ever say anything like that.”
Tom Brady’s reps push back on report that he’s ‘too old’ for Sofia Vergara: ‘Pure fiction’ https://t.co/Ehg2IRLWmj pic.twitter.com/MKxEyqZhnb
— New York Post (@nypost) July 11, 2025
I side with Brady here. If you have functioning eye sight, I don’t think Vergara’s age matters one bit.
7. RANDOM VIDEO OF THE DAY: Had a lot of people sending me this on Thursday and asking for my reaction.
EXCLUSIVE: Larry David is returning to HBO after wrapping "Curb Your Enthusiasm" with a new sketch comedy show about American history.
— Variety (@Variety) July 10, 2025
Barack and Michelle Obama are executive producing under their Higher Ground Productions. David is writing the series with Jeff Schaffer, who was… pic.twitter.com/1uDWUjhtQg
My reaction is that I will watch every second of it, but I wish Larry would just do Curb instead. Give me awkwardness and daily life minutiae like this instead of a history lesson.
Be sure to catch up on past editions of Traina Thoughts and check out the Sports Illustrated Media Podcast hosted by Jimmy Traina on Apple, Spotify or Google. You can also follow Jimmy on X and Instagram.
This article was originally published on www.si.com as Mets vs. Yankees TV Battle Leads to Astonishing Ratings News.
