We report on the generation of 94 W continuous wave output power at 980 nm using an Yb-doped fiber laser. This is achieved using an ultra large-mode-area rod-type photonic crystal fiber pumped at 915 nm. To the best of our knowledge this is the highest output power close to diffraction-limited beam quality (M(2) about 2.2) achieved in this wavelength range from fibers so far .The experimental results are supported by detailed numerical simulations that provide a deeper understanding of the laser process, in particular the competition with the 1030 nm emission.