Amazon Prime announced Friday it will broadcast 21 New York Yankees games in 2024, and it didn’t take long before fans started with their Bronx cheers.
Amazon’s package features 19 of those 21 Yankees games on Wednesday nights, and they’re free to Amazon Prime subscribers. They will air on Amazon in the team’s home market (New York State, Connecticut, north and central New Jersey, and northeast Pennsylvania).
Longtime Yankees play-by-play announcer Michael Kay and the rest of the YES Network team will handle the broadcasts.
The news should have not come as a surprise to any Yankees fans, who have complained for the past couple of years about the team moving games to streaming services such as Amazon, Apple TV, and Peacock. It’s unclear whether Peacock will return in 2024, but Apple TV is back.
Yankees games will air on at least eight networks or services in 2024. Along with Amazon and Apple TV+, ESPN, Fox, FS1, MLB Network, TBS and YES Network will broadcast various Yankees games, according to CableTV.com.
That will make it tougher for fans to find Yanks games, but it’s the future of sports broadcasting, and not just in MLB. The NFL offered a streaming-only playoff game for the first time last season and some analysts have even predicted a streaming-only Super Bowl in the near future.
Yet as noted, Yankees fans have been particularly vocal about denouncing the streaming trend. Chris “Mad Dog” Russo ranted in 2022 that if he were trying to watch a game on Amazon and there were issues, he would literally howl at the moon. So it’s no surprise Yankees fans greeted Friday’s announcement with frustration.
I have Amazon Prime and this is still an L https://t.co/ooc43HQacu
— Yankees Treehouse (@YanksTreehouse) March 1, 2024
This is the worst deal in baseball. I had Prime, MLB TV and NY local cable last year and still couldn’t watch these games https://t.co/scK5VWUPMM
— Juwan (Yes I’m an Affiliate) the Curator (@juwanthecurator) March 1, 2024
This better pay for Juan Soto @Yankees https://t.co/78avvm5Pij
— Noah (@NYYNYKNYGNJDfan) March 1, 2024
This is ridiculous https://t.co/QhBDESwyDY
— Nicholas Joseph (@sniickks) March 1, 2024
I don’t feel bad for you at this point if you don’t have Prime https://t.co/Bfg8tl9u5B
— “J” (@DairyDeputyy) March 1, 2024
About Arthur Weinstein
Arthur spends his free time traveling around the U.S. to sporting events, state and national parks, and in search of great restaurants off the beaten path.