Amazon will make nearly two dozen live baseball games available to subscribers of its Prime Video service, the company announced this week.
More than 20 games played by the New York Yankees will simulcast on Amazon Prime Video thanks to the company’s partial ownership of the YES Network, the home network of Yankees baseball.
The news comes as Google continues to negotiate with Sinclair Broadcasting Group for the rights to carry the YES Network and more than 20 regional Fox Sports-branded networks on its YouTube TV service. Sinclair is a co-owner of the YES Network.
YouTube TV originally announced its intention to drop the regional Fox Sports networks and the YES Network on February 29 at the end of its contract with Sinclair. The company said it was unable to reach a new agreement with the broadcaster over the channels, though Sinclair said it not only offered YouTube TV and extension beyond the end of February but also agreed to lower its retransmission fees for the channels.
YouTube TV and Sinclair agreed to a temporary extension that kept the channels on the platform beyond February. Both sides said the agreement was temporary, though negotiations are ongoing.
Amazon’s announcement isn’t likely to complicate matters between Google and Sinclair because only games produced by the YES Network for their broadcast partner, WPIX-TV (Channel 11), will be offered through the service. Games exclusive to the YES Network won’t be available on Amazon; baseball enthusiasts will still have to turn to cable, satellite or a streaming service like YouTube TV or Hulu with Live TV to catch those games.
The first Yankees game streamed on Amazon Prime Video is scheduled for April 17 starting at 7 p.m. Eastern Time. Amazon Prime customers in New York, Connecticut and portions of Pennsylvania and New Jersey will have free access to the games.
