Feb 26 (Reuters) - Amazon ( AMZN ) said on Wednesday it
will exclusively stream 21 New York Yankees regular games on its
Prime Video service for the upcoming 2025 season, as streaming
companies face increasing competition to broadcast live sporting
events.
The baseball games will be live streamed at no extra cost to
Prime Video members living in New York State, Connecticut, north
and central New Jersey and northeast Pennsylvania - areas that
cover a majority of the fanbase of the New York Yankees.
Live sports, a prerogative of cable television for decades,
is swiftly moving to digital platforms to tap the larger
audience that is ditching cable TV subscriptions for digital
streaming platforms.
Streaming bellwether Netflix ( NFLX ) has increased its
investments towards acquiring live sports content, including
high-profile events such as the Mike Tyson-Jake Paul boxing
match, aiming to diversify its portfolio and attract a broader
audience.
It also paid more than $5 billion to be the exclusive home
of World Wrestling Entertainment's Raw in several territories
from January this year and is considering a bid for Formula 1's
U.S. TV rights, according to media reports.
This has prompted competing digital platforms, including
Prime Video, to stream more live sporting events to drive
subscriber growth and enhance their advertising revenue, as live
events tend to draw large, engaged audiences.
Prime Video currently streams the NBA, Thursday Night
Football, NASCAR, Seattle Kraken and Overtime Elite among others
in the U.S.