The Yankees have moved their game Friday so it will be on both YES and Amazon Prime Video to avoid any potential issues with availability as Aaron Judge continues to take aim at Roger Maris’ 61 home runs.
The game was originally supposed to just be on Amazon Prime Video, the paid subscription service that has been scheduled to air 21 of the Yankees’ games this season. YES is partly owned by Amazon and the Yankees’ wanted the greatest distribution for the game.
As Judge has contested for Maris’ mark, YES’ has had tremendous ratings. Its broadcast Tuesday averaged 708,000 viewers, which was the most for a telecast since 2014.
Last Friday, when Judge’s pursuit remained on just Apple TV+, the Attorney General of New York, Letitia James, chimed in saying the game should also be on YES.
The Yankees pushed for that game to be simulcast on Apple TV+ nationally and regionally on YES. The Apple deal was with Major League Baseball, and did not contain any language to force that.
Apple, as it was its contractual right, declined the Yankees and YES’ request. Judge failed to hit No. 61 on Apple.
One other difference between Apple and Amazon is that Amazon uses YES’ announcers, meaning Michael Kay will lead a crew with regular analysts regardless of where it airs.