• by David Goetzl  @dgoetzl, August 13, 2009

A month after Cablevision began offering subscribers the opportunity to also access New York Yankees games online, telco TV competitor Verizon has joined the game.

Partly channeling the TV Everywhere concept that is expected to increasingly take hold, customers who pay for a FiOS TV package and a Verizon broadband service can watch the games live on the Web.

The online-casts are the same that appear on the Yes Network, the regional cable channel that carries Yankees games. FiOS customers can pay a one-time fee of $29.95 for Web streaming for the rest of the season, or $19.95 to watch 30 games.

The opportunity is available only to those who live in the wider New York market and have a FiOS TV package that includes Yes.

Yes Network and Verizon have signed a multi-year deal. Terms were not disclosed.

With Cablevision and FiOS now going head to head in multiple markets for TV subscribers, Verizon likely sought the deal with Yes to keep pace.

Like FiOS, the Cablevision arrangement also includes extra fees, and eligible customers must also subscribe to its broadband service. Cablevision's deal, which involved a go-ahead from Major League Baseball's media arm, was billed as the first in-market online streaming in pro sports.

A similar service in the San Diego market for the home team Padres was also launched last month.

The MLB media unit runs an MLB.TV subscription offering that provides access to out-of-market games only -- so Yankees fans in Colorado can watch the New York team.

The aim of TV Everywhere is to slow cable programmers' rush to offer the same content online for free that they do on-air. Customers pay pricey subscriber fees for cable and satellite services, and there is some fear that if top-tier content is gratis on the Web, people may just drop a subscription.

Thus, walls are being erected where online content will only be accessible to people who also pay for a distribution service, with authentication technology used to ensure it.

There is, however, a major difference between the TV Everywhere movement and the Yes games online via Cablevision and Verizon.

TV Everywhere proponents do not want to charge extra for online access, just ensure that online viewers are also cable or satellite subscribers. However, access to the Yes Network feeds comes with a significant added price on top of the monthly cable bill.