“Jon’s great thing is he’s able to utilize all of his knowledge and experience to continue to push boundaries into new technologies, new programming, new areas to make it better.” 

— Randy Levine, President, New York Yankees 

By R. Thomas Umstead

Rare in sports is the five-tool player — an athlete who can excel at hitting, fielding, throwing, running and hitting for power.
Even rarer is the five-star television executive who has excelled across virtually every facet of the sports media business. YES Network President and CEO Jon Litner fits that bill.
The Connecticut native has held executive roles across sports television, culminating in overseeing one of the most successful players in the turbulent regional sports network business.
“If you look at his record of success at every stop along the way, he’s proven himself to be an exceptional executive and trusted colleague,” former Fox Sports Regional Networks President Jeff Krolik said.

A Lifelong Fan
Litner’s passion for sports began on the field while growing up on the North Shore of Massachusetts as the youngest of four children.
“Sports was always part of our lives in terms of being a fan, as well as being exposed and playing every sport that was available to us,” he said.
As a teenager, Litner played summer league baseball alongside players with professional ties, including Mike Andrews Jr., son of then-Boston Red Sox second baseman Mike Andrews. Litner eventually played both baseball and football at Yale University.
“I would have loved to become a professional baseball player, but there’s a certain point where you realize that your ability is only going to get you so far,” he said.
Litner realized his future would be determined more by his mind than his athletic ability, eventually earning degrees from Yale and Cornell Law School.
While at Cornell, Litner worked at the law firm Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft, where he met friend and mentor Tony Petitti, who would help change the direction of his career. Petitti, now commissioner of the Big Ten Conference, eventually moved to ABC Sports and helped Litner land his first job in sports television.
From 1991 to 1999, Litner helped ABC manage iconic properties such as Monday Night Football, the Indianapolis 500, the Kentucky Derby and ABC’s Wide World of Sports.
From there, he moved to the National Hockey League as executive vice president and chief operating officer. He returned to TV in 2005, overseeing the launch of SNY, the RSN home of baseball’s New York Mets, as its president.
In 2007, Litner added another big role to his résumé as president of Comcast Sports Group, eventually assuming responsibility for national network Versus. In 2012, he was named group president of NBC Sports Group, overseeing NBC’s RSNs as well as Golf Channel.
Litner said some of his greatest lessons came from working at startups like NHL Network or SNY. “You learn the most because you’re doing everything,” he said. “You’re literally taking an idea and bringing it to fruition.”
He brought those experiences along in 2016 when he joined YES Network, local TV home of the New York Yankees and the National Basketball Association’s Brooklyn Nets, as president.
His tenure has coincided with the trend toward cord-cutting and changing consumer viewing habits that have challenged the RSN business model. Yet under Litner’s leadership, YES has ranked No. 1 in viewership across linear and digital platforms while aggressively expanding its digital footprint. The network launched the YES App in 2021 and partnered with MSG Networks to debut The Gotham Sports App in 2024. For the upcoming NBA season, YES and MSG streaming will move to direct-to-consumer platform DAZN under a new rights deal.
YES has also won an astounding 66 New York Emmy Awards over Litner’s tenure.

“If you look at his record of success at every stop along the way, he’s proven himself to be an exceptional executive and trusted colleague.”

— Jeff Krolik, former Fox Sports Regional Networks president

Tech Forward
“Jon’s great thing is he’s able to utilize all of his knowledge and experience to continue to push boundaries into new technologies, new programming, new areas to make it better,” Yankees President Randy Levine said. “Jon’s the consummate professional.”
Away from the executive suite, Litner enjoys cycling and skiing, but one of his most meaningful roles is serving as vice chairman of Little League Baseball International.
“One of my passions is to give back and provide opportunities for kids across the globe to enjoy the sports of baseball and softball,” he said. “It is truly a passion project for me.”
Former Little League International Board Chairman Dennis Lewin, who mentored Litner at ABC Sports, said Litner’s professional experience and lifelong connection to baseball made him an ideal addition.
“I thought the board could use someone of Jon’s talents, especially from the media perspective, and he’s very much into youth baseball,” Lewin said. “He’s as well-rounded a person as you’ll ever meet.”
For all the sports luminaries Litner has encountered, he said his greatest influences remain much closer to home: his wife, Polly, and their three adult children.
“They inspire me every single day,” he said. “They may say, ‘Well, you’re mentoring me,’ but I look at them, and I learn something from them every day.”