It’s ‘Play ball!’ for Altice and Disney deal

Yankees fans with Optimum cable service can thank the closers of a big deal on Sunday.

Altice and ESPN parent Disney reached a tentative agreement only minutes after a 5 p.m. deadline, which means the Yankees wild-card game on Tuesday against the Minnesota Twins won’t be subject to a blackout.

That also goes for “Monday Night Football,” as well as other programs on ABC, the Disney Channel and other networks.

In some parts of New York City, including sections of Brooklyn, Optimum is the only non-satellite cable system available. There are 2.6 million Optimum subscribers in the metro region.

“We have reached an agreement in principle and have extended the deadline accordingly to try and finalize the terms,” the sides said in a joint statement.

Disney has been negotiating over retransmission fees and sports programming costs.

Altice has argued that Disney had asked for “outrageous” increases in payments to continue its networks. Disney countered that Altice charges the average customer $160 or more per month and “the bulk of that money goes into their pocket.”

The Mouse network has now extended the deadline twice: a single day to Oct. 1, and now to an as-yet unannounced date.

“We got to a close enough place,” a source close to the talks said.

“There are still quite a few details to be worked through,” said the source, who added the pact is far enough along that a new negotiating deadline is moot.

Meanwhile, Bloomberg reported Sunday that Altice agreed to increase what it is paying for ESPN but it is less than Disney sought.

Disney, on average, is now charging about $8 a subscriber for ESPN.