Optimum and MLB Network carriage dispute leaves LI baseball fans caught in the middle

Rockville Centre’s Mike Boranian would have liked to have watched Carlos Beltran’s Hall of Fame induction speech live on Sunday afternoon. Or maybe the Mets fan would have recorded it and watched it later.

But Boranian didn’t have either option available to him because he is an Optimum cable TV subscriber. The Hall of Fame induction ceremony was only broadcast on MLB Network, which was taken off Optimum on Jan. 31 because of a carriage dispute that seems to have no end in sight.

There were internet options to watch the induction ceremony such as MLB.TV and the Hall of Fame web site. But Boranian and other Long Islanders would still like their MLB Network back, especially since it’s not as if Optimum has reduced their monthly bills during the dispute.

“My bill hasn’t gone down since I’ve lost that particular service,” Boranian told Newsday in a telephone interview. “So whatever they were negotiating, whatever they’re at loggerheads over or why they canceled it, it was never told to us, it was never communicated to the subscribers as to what was going on, and Optimum just chose to drop it, I assume, because of expense. They just dropped it. The bill didn't go down in relation to that.”

The move to take MLB Network off Optimum affects about 1 million viewers in the metropolitan area, many of them on Long Island. The dispute is simply about money – how much Optimum would pay MLB Network to carry the channel. The sides have not been able to agree on a price.

MLB Network, in a statement to Newsday from Tuesday, said: “As of today, we have offered terms similar to what’s been agreed to by close to 300 other providers, but Optimum remains committed to scaling back their sports coverage. We are willing and ready to engage in meaningful discussions to restore MLB Network, the home of baseball, to its service. Until then, baseball fans throughout the tri-state area can watch our Emmy Award-winning content via numerous different video providers as well as with an MLB+ subscription. Our comprehensive national coverage of the stretch run to the Postseason, beginning with the approaching Trade Deadline, will be unmatched.”

Back in February, Optimum in a statement referred to MLB Network’s programming as “niche content, which our customers should not be forced to pay for if it does not align with their viewing preferences.”

In a new statement issued to Newsday on Tuesday, Optimum did not address the ongoing dispute directly or mention MLB Network at all.

“Local baseball fans in the New York area can continue viewing Yankees games on the YES Network and Mets games on SNY in their Optimum TV lineups,” the statement read. “Optimum TV customers can also watch MLB content and in-market games on national channels including ESPN, FOX, FS1, NBC, TBS, and WPIX (PIX 11), through streaming services Apple TV+, Peacock, Netflix, and Fubo TV, or by downloading the MLB.TV app.”

MLB Network does not show Yankees or Mets games in the New York area because they are blacked out. The network does show games involving the other 28 other teams along with live game look-ins, various highlight shows throughout the day and other programming.

Optimum customers may be able to switch to a different TV provider that carries MLB Network if one is available in their area. But is the loss of any one channel enough to make the move? It’s an existential question many cable TV consumers have been grappling with for years now as carriage disputes have become more commonplace, and not just with sports programming.

Boranian said he has thought about switching. So has Optimum customer Jordan Brachman of East Meadow, a Mets fan who liked to watch the live looks-ins on MLB Network.

“They didn't reduce my bill at all by not carrying the MLB Network,” Brachman said. “I do miss it and I hope if there's any future negotiations, they could bring it back. I'm a big baseball fan.”

By Anthony Rieber

anthony.rieber@newsday.comAnthonyRieber

Anthony Rieber covers sports media and business and professional sports (you know, games and trades and things). He has worked at Newsday since Aug. 31, 1998, and has been in his current position since Jan. 1, 2026.