Yankee fans without Amazon Prime will have at least one other way to watch their team tonight: head to the local bar.
As New York plays the first of 20 games this season on Prime Video, DirecTV for Business is set to announce a partnership with Prime Video that will bring those games to commercial customers like bars and restaurants throughout the Yankees footprint of New York State, Connecticut and parts of New Jersey and Pennsylvania.
“For decades, DirecTV has given sports fans all over the country access to their favorite teams how and where they want to watch them,” DirecTV chief content officer Rob Thun said in a statement. “We look forward to bringing those fans even more Yankees games to watch at their favorite local bars, restaurants and other commercial establishments.”
Sports’ move to streaming has made things tricky for sports-bar owners, who now have to juggle various rules on what they can stream, along with managing an assortment of devices and services needed to air games.
At times, DirecTV has made the challenge easier. It has already distributed Thursday Night Football through a deal with Amazon and this year added Apple TV+’s MLB slate to its offering as those games move behind a $7-a-month paywall. More than 300,000 businesses subscribe to DirecTV’s commercial plans across the country.
Other companies have looked to fill the gap as well. Last week, the NFL and RedBird Capital Partners launched EverPass Media, which will license the league’s out-of-market package to bars and restaurants, and may look to add additional content.
Amazon first aired exclusive Yankees games last year after buying a stake in YES Network in 2019.
