Yankees threaten to boycott ESPN over scheduling fiasco
The New York Yankees are upset at ESPN over a scheduling situation that would force the Bronx Bombers to play three games in two cities within a roughly 24-hour span of time.
The Yankees have a make-up double-header scheduled in Baltimore for July 9, with Game 1 set to start at 5 p.m. On July 8, the Yankees play the Toronto Blue Jays in Toronto.
Here’s the problem: The Toronto game was originally scheduled to start at 1 p.m., but it got changed to 8 p.m. to accommodate ESPN’s “Sunday Night Baseball” telecast. This means the Yankees wouldn’t finish in Toronto until late Sunday, then be forced to travel to Baltimore for two more games the next day.
And they’re not happy about it.
In an fact, according to the New York Post‘s Andrew Marchand, the Yankees could be willing to boycott ESPN over the scheduling issue.
“It is a tool in the toolbox,” one source told the Post.
Sources said representatives from the Yankees, ESPN, MLB and the MLB Players Association are trying to work toward a compromise.
Yankees manager Aaron Boone hopes that whatever happens, his team won’t have to play three games so close together.
“Hopefully it’s still happening behind the scenes and there’s pressure being applied because that’s just not good for the product on the field, for the safety of our guys to be having to go night game then fly into a doubleheader,” Boone said Sunday, per the New York Daily News‘ Bill Madden. “That’s ridiculous and anyone that would argue with that is not being truthful.”
ESPN is within its rights to decide it wants to broadcast the Yankees-Blue Jays game on July 8, and the Yankees also can’t do anything to stop ESPN from broadcasting any of their future games.
Still, a boycott could make for a sticky situation.
“(T)he players’ and management’s boycott would include being uncooperative with ESPN for its broadcasts and any extra features, like the ones commonly seen on ‘SportsCenter,'” the Post reported.
“For ‘Sunday Night,’ the ESPN booth team receives a special session with Boone during the pregame, as well as in-game access. ESPN often asks for TV interviews with players prior to the game and special access. The Yankees would just say no to all requests, a source said, if the July 8 game remains on the ‘Sunday Night’ schedule.”
Complicating matters further is the fact that Boone used to work for ESPN. Moreover, former Yankees slugger Alex Rodriguez currently serves an analyst on “Sunday Night Baseball,” as well as an adviser to Yankees owner Hal Steinbrenner and a mentor to several Yankees players.
Apparently, the Yankees have not decided on how exactly they will retaliate if their demands aren’t met.
“I don’t think we’ve gotten that far,” said Yankees player representative David Robertson. “We’ve had some internal discussions about what we could do, potentially, but let’s hope it doesn’t get to that point.”
It remains to be seen how this situation will play out, but a war between the most successful franchise in U.S. sports and one of the most powerful networks in the country likely wouldn’t end well.
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