Q. I read that Amazon Prime is getting about 20 New York Yankees games this season. I think that’s very cool, but can anyone watch them or will there be blackouts here and there? — Eddie, Milwaukee.
Eddie, as you know, Amazon, a part-owner of the Yes Network, will offer 21 New York Yankee games this season on Amazon Prime.
The games, which will be free to Prime members, will be simulcasts of the broadcasts airing on the Yes Network and other channels that have Yankee TV rights. That means that Yes Network subscribers won’t lose any games in their lineup.
But will Amazon Prime members outside of the Yes Network’s broadcast territory be able to watch the games?
Answer: No.
The 21 games will only be available to Prime members in New York, Connecticut and parts of New Jersey and Pennsylvania, the traditional viewing areas for Yankee games on Yes. Everyone else will be blacked out.
The advantage here for Amazon Prime members in the Yankee viewing territory is that they can watch some Yankee games without subscribing to Yes on a cable or satellite service. This gives cord-cutters in those four states an opportunity to watch their favorite baseball team without paying hefty monthly fees to the pay TV operators.
Of course, it’s not all the games, but it’s something, right?
Look for Amazon to offer more live sports in the coming months. The etailer has broadcast NFL simulcasts of Thursday Night Football for the last two seasons.
The first Yankee game on Amazon Prime will be the Yankees-Reds game on April 17 at 7 p.m. ET, live from Yankee Stadium.
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— Phillip Swann
