YES Network
When Matt Duarte left his finance job to join the sports business world full time, he described it as the most pivotal moment of his career.
After graduating from Harvard Business School, the New York native’s first full-time job was in the strategy rotational program at Madison Square Garden Company in 2018. He had previously worked in credit underwriting at Wells Fargo.
Matt Duarte
Vice President, Strategy and Business Development,YES Network
Age: 34
Born: New York, N.Y.
Education: Amherst College, bachelor’s degree, economics/Spanish; Harvard Business School, MBA
Family: Spouse, Jenn Volk; child, Thomas (Tommy) Volk-Duarte (1)
How I deal with stress in the workplace: I talk to my colleagues and team about the challenge I’m facing. We come to a better solution together than I would’ve been able to get to alone.
Person in sports business I’d most like to meet: Pat Riley. As a lifelong NBA/Miami Heat fan, I would love to pick his brain about team building, managing and building a strong organizational culture, and how he has been able to consistently win wherever he has gone.
Sports business leaders should be more mindful of … : The impact they have on not only their fans, but their communities.
The most pressing issue facing my generation is … : How quickly technology and consumer behavior changes, resulting in the need for businesses to adapt in real time.
“When I was in finance, I had gotten a good understanding of media, as well as operating a business,” said Duarte. “A lot of what I did in banking was analyze a company to understand their business fundamentals. I wanted to be the one in the seat not only making the recommendations but executing against them.”
Duarte’s days now look a bit different at YES Network, where in 2023 he led the design and launch of the company’s direct-to-consumer subscription product on the YES app, helping reach Yankees, Nets and Liberty fans who don’t have cable.
Since the product launched, the company grew registrations on the YES app by 15%, and total streaming revenue more than doubled from 2022 to 2023 due to advertising revenue and incremental subscription.
“The media element of how everything is changing — consumption of sports, and streaming and social media and digital, and where people are watching. … I didn’t know where it would go,” he said. “I still don’t really know where we’re going to go completely, but the evolution and how fast things are changing is really exciting for me to be part of.”
For Duarte, a first-generation Cuban American and the oldest of four children, giving back has been a priority. He stresses the importance of mentoring students and young professionals, and in his spare time is involved in organizations such as Big Brothers Big Sisters and Sports & Entertainment Equity Network. — Mollie Cahillane
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