The Yankees’ game against the Orioles on Friday will no longer be accessible only on Amazon Prime Video, as it was for the previous 20 games: the game will also be shown on the Yankee Entertainment and Sports (YES) network, according to a tweet from the cable network. It’s a huge move, and it’s something Apple didn’t do last week, despite the Attorney General’s demands.
Many Yankees fans are likely to tune in since outfielder Aaron Judge has the potential to break a home run record that has been held for nearly 60 years (he matched it on Wednesday after this article was originally published). However, the opportunity to watch the Yankees on YES has recently been problematic; last Friday, New York Attorney General Letitia James demanded that Apple make the game accessible on cable TV. Apple TV Plus, like Amazon, is the exclusive home of another set of baseball games, and James said that having to utilize the streaming service was a strain for individuals who were used to watching the Yankees on YES.
To be clear, what is occurring this week is not the same as what happened with Apple. For one thing, Amazon has a 15% investment in YES, so the game being played on both Prime and cable is essentially a win-win, and YES has been substantially engaged in creating the programs that appeared on Amazon Prime. It also doesn’t hurt that Friday’s game is the final in Amazon’s exclusive schedule, so expectations for the rest of the season aren’t established.
Another significant distinction is that Apple TV makes its games available to anyone with a web browser or smartphone, whereas Amazon’s streams are only available to “Prime members in the Yankees’ home-team footprint of New York state, Connecticut, north and central New Jersey, and northeast Pennsylvania.” Prime costs $14.99 per month or $139 per year, but you can buy simply Prime Video for $8.99 per month.
The decision to broadcast Friday’s game on both Prime Video and YES is mainly a throwback to previous years; in 2021, games were accessible on both Amazon’s streaming service and cable.
