SNY Cancels SportsNite and Baseball Night in New York, Shutters Website Amid Major Layoffs

Abstract editorial illustration of an empty sports TV studio with glowing monitors and a muted stadium silhouette, no people or logos
Abstract editorial illustration of an empty sports TV studio with glowing monitors and a muted stadium silhouette, no people or logos

SportsNet New York (SNY), the regional sports network that carries New York Mets games, canceled two long-running studio shows on Friday, shuttered its website, and laid off much of its editorial staff — a sudden contraction confirmed by The New York Post and first reported by The Athletic.

SportsNite and Baseball Night Canceled Immediately

According to The Athletic’s Marc Carig and Andrew Marchand, SNY canceled SportsNite and Baseball Night in New York, effective immediately. The New York Post separately confirmed the program cancellations and reported major layoffs alongside the website shutdown.

SportsNite had been an SNY staple since the network launched in March 2006, recapping New York sports news. Baseball Night in New York premiered in November 2015. Both shows are now off the schedule. SNY declined comment to The Athletic.

What Survives: Game Coverage and Hot Stove

The cuts do not end SNY’s core broadcast role. Carig and Marchand reported that the network will continue producing pre- and postgame shows for the Mets and the New York Jets, and that the Mets Hot Stove show remains on air. The New York Post added that the Carton Show WFAN simulcast was also unaffected.

On-air contributors Chelsea Janes, Ian Begley, and Connor Hughes will stick with SNY, according to The Athletic. The network’s website, long a hub for Mets and local sports coverage, has been shuttered as part of the same Friday moves.

A 20-Year Mets Home Under Joint Ownership

SNY has broadcast Mets games for roughly two decades and also airs programming tied to other New York pro and college teams. Ownership sits with Sterling Entertainment Enterprises, a joint venture of Sterling Equities, Charter Communications, and Comcast, Metsmerized Online noted, citing reporting on the ownership structure. Former Mets owner Fred Wilpon co-founded Sterling Equities but left the firm in September, according to Long Island Business News as cited by Metsmerized.

Part of a Broader Regional Sports Squeeze

Friday’s moves land amid years of pressure on regional sports networks as cord-cutting erodes traditional cable bundles that once subsidized local team rights and studio shows. SNY’s decision to keep game-adjacent coverage while cutting daily studio and digital editorial capacity mirrors a pattern seen elsewhere in local sports media: protect rights-driven live programming, shrink the newsroom around it.

Exact headcount of the Friday layoffs was not disclosed in the initial Athletic or Post reports. Fans online quickly framed the day as a loss for in-depth local Mets and New York sports coverage that studio staples and the site had provided for years.

What’s Next / Why It Matters

For Mets and Jets viewers, live games and pre-/postgame windows appear intact for now. For staff and regular viewers of SportsNite and Baseball Night, Friday ends a long run of daily and baseball-focused studio programming. For the wider RSN industry, SNY’s cuts are another data point that even flagship team networks are narrowing their non-game footprints.

Watch for whether SNY clarifies residual digital plans after the website shutdown, how remaining contributors’ roles are reshaped, and whether other regional networks announce similar studio or editorial reductions this offseason.

Sources

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