Amazon Prime Video to stream 21 Yankees games this season

Amazon Prime Video will carry 21 Yankees games this regular season on the company’s Prime Video service at no cost to members, the Yankees, Amazon and the YES Network announced on Tuesday.

An arrangement of this sort widely was expected when Amazon bought an ownership stake in YES last summer.

The 21 games, the first of which is scheduled for April 17 against the Reds, will be simulcasts of games televised on Channel 11 and produced by YES.

The streamed games only will be available to Prime members in the Yankees’ “home-team footprint,” which includes New York, Connecticut, northeast Pennsylvania and north and central New Jersey.

Amazon offers features beyond just the game production, including in-game statistics and play-by-play information.

Yankees games televised by the YES Network will continue to be available on the Fox Sports Go app.

The Amazon deal is a byproduct of a decision by MLB owners last fall to allow new, local streaming rights deals, but only for games shown over the air. Hence the ability to stream the Channel 11 games, which had not been part of the Fox Sports Go slate.
"We understand that fans are consuming content in a variety of different ways," Hal Steinbrenner, CEO of Yankee Global Enterprises, said in a news release, "and we believe our unique partnership with Amazon represents an exciting development in the realm of live sports.”

Here is the schedule of games set for Prime Video:

Friday, April 17,  Cincinnati, 7 p.m.

Tuesday, April 21, at Detroit, 6:30 p.m.

Saturday, April 25, Cleveland, 1 p.m.

Friday, May 8, Boston, 7 p.m.

Friday, May 15, at Houston, 8 p.m.

Friday, May 22, Seattle, 7 p.m.

Saturday, May 23, Seattle, 1 p.m.

Wednesday, May 27, Minnesota, 7 p.m.

Sunday, June 21, at Minnesota, 2 p.m.

Wednesday, June 24, Baltimore, 7 p.m.

Tuesday, June 30, at Baltimore, 7 p.m.

Wednesday, July 22, Angels, 7 p.m.

Friday, July 24, Boston, 7 p.m.

Wednesday, July 29, at Mets, 7 p.m.

Monday, Aug. 10, at Kansas City, 8 p.m.

Friday, Aug. 21, Toronto, 7 p.m.

Friday, Aug. 28, at Cleveland, 7 p.m.

Thursday, Sept. 10, Boston, 7 p.m.

Sunday, Sept. 20, at Toronto, 1 p.m.

Wednesday, Sept. 23, Houston, 7 p.m.

Friday, Sept. 25, Tampa Bay, 7 p.m.

By Neil Best

neil.best@newsday.com@sportswatch

Neil Best first worked at Newsday in 1982, returned in 1985 after a detour to Alaska and has been here since, specializing in high schools, college basketball, the NFL and most recently sports media and business.