YES Network Undergoes Full-Scale Graphics Rebrand for 2023 New York Yankees Season

Vizrt, Drive Studios were important contributors to the new package

The New York Yankees’ 2023 season gives YES Network another chance to entertain the baseball masses in the New York City metropolitan area. Looking to spice up its on-air presentation, the regional sports network’s on-air graphics and marketing departments have implemented a cohesive rebranding of the RSN’s graphics and promotional material.

“Coming off a great season for the Yankees, including Aaron Judge’s winning the American League MVP, we felt that a redesign was necessary,” says Rick Deutschman, senior director, creative design, YES Network. “In addition to the many features within the YES App and the launch of our direct-to-consumer option, it was an opportune time to rebrand the network as a whole.”

YES Network’s “New Blue” graphics package moves away from the traditional navy-blue color scheme.

Since 2018, the network has dabbled with new creative directions. At the start of the 2018-19 Brooklyn Nets campaign, for example, the RSN debuted graphics highlighting the borough and the team. In 2019, the mission was to blend the linear and digital platforms under one brand identity. For the 2021 MLB season, the goal was to integrate a new scorebug for Yankees broadcasts. The current, massive Yankees rebrand began six months ago at the start of last offseason — which was only two months after Head of Marketing and Creative Bill Bergofin joined the company.

“I was able to be a part of this process with the team since my first day,” he says. “It has been about five years since we’ve redone our Yankees package, so this classic brand needed a fresh coat of paint.”

Tapping the talents of YES Network Manager, Creative Design, Brandon Shapiro; Senior Motion Graphic Artist Michael Carangelo; and Junior Motion Graphic Artist Simon Tamayo, the creative department merged its efforts with those of Drive Studios Founder/Creative Director Nick DiNapoli and Founder/Technical Director Marco Bacich to develop a concept that would not only match the World Series aspirations of the team on the field but also reflect a new era of the network.

Dynamic movement has been integrated into Yes Network’s on-air elements, including this one with reigning AL MVP Aaron Judge.

“We provided key strategic imperatives to inform [Nick, Marco, and their team’s] direction,” adds Deutschman. “We wanted to do something that was more innovative, different from what we’ve done in the past, and skews to a younger audience. [Ultimately], we came up with this environmental and abstract representation of New York City with strong typography and graphic repetition.”

Alongside YES Network’s many offerings to customers, the staff has been transforming internal workflows, replacing many of its in-house hardware with new graphics engines from Vizrt, Reality Check Systems for additional support, and collaboration with Sinclair Broadcast Group Viz Director Andrew Benninghoff. The effort has produced templates and animations that leverage space and dynamic movement.

The process also generated a reimagined color palette. Dubbed “New Blue,” the lighter shade of blue contrasts with the darker navy that fans have been accustomed to seeing. In an example of kinetic energy, one graphic includes a video of Judge swinging at a pitch but also contacting his name in a way that a baseball sprays chalk when it hits the foul line.

“That particular effect is something that we were drawn to in early designs,” says Deutschman. “Working with Drive Studios to add that little effect was pretty cool, and we’re looking to expand on that as we go [through the season].”

Vizrt is being used to create unique environments, including this one with the Yankees logo.

The hardest challenge with any rebranding of a graphics package in today’s sports-production landscape is preventing the new iteration from becoming obsolete. “We were finding that 3D felt a bit dated, but we were going to get tired of 2D pretty quickly,” says Deutschman. “So we decided to toe the line and create a fusion of these two animation styles. We know people will always opt for the biggest and best available screen, but this look needed to work in the app if we were going to truly rebrand the entire network.”

Since the launch of YES Network in March 2002, Deutschman has been present for every version of the RSN’s on-air graphics. Knowledgeable about the trends and ideas that influence the packages, he appreciates the distance that these elements have come: “We leaned into Yankee history as well as the stadium’s lights and façade over the years. We celebrated franchise legends like Ruth, Gehrig, and DiMaggio, but now we’re highlighting our current players.”

After a month of the 2023 season, folks at the network have reflected on how these broadcasts have looked so far. When the margin for error is extremely small, internal feedback — from Lead Producer Troy Benjamin and Lead Director Dan Barr in the truck and executives President, Production and Programming, John J. Filippelli, and VP, Production, Jared Boshnack —has been extremely positive. Some of that praise has made it on the air.

“Your toughest critics are often in the room sitting around you,” says Bergofin. “[Play-by-play announcer] Michael Kay loved it so much that he gave it a shout-out on the broadcast. It’s a testament to the great work that Rick and his team have done.”

The graphics — inserts, transitions, and more — are seen on Yankees broadcasts, but the network’s vision is to broaden their use to all its properties. Whether that’s marketing for the studio programming or advertisements for live Yankees or Nets telecasts, YES Network’s overall strategy will be homogenous and unified for the foreseeable future.

“We are now breathing this into everything we do,” says Bergofin. “This [rebrand] allows us to take a bit more ownership of all the great things happening here and gives us a chance to let the network shine through.”