It could be over for the Minnesota Twins and longtime TV broadcast partner, Bally Sports North. The two have been in TV business together for 22 years , going all the way back to when the Twins first partnered with FSN (FOX Sports North) in 2002.
But on Wednesday, attorneys of BSN’s parent company Diamond Sports Group made it clear to a bankruptcy judge that the company would prefer not to broadcast Twins games in 2025. In fact, they feel the same way about 10 of the other 11 teams they held TV rights for in 2024.
Diamond Sports Group (Bally) doesn’t want the Minnesota Twins anymore
According to Evan Drellich (The Athletic) , the only team DSG wants to retain going forward is the Atlanta Braves. Diamond Sports’ lawyers seemed to offer some sort of safety net for the Minnesota Twins, along with any other previous partner desperate enough to take them up on what must be a pretty underwhelming package.
Evan notes that if the Twins or any of these other 10 teams want to re-up with DSG, they’ll have to renegotiate new deals. But The Athletic’s lead insider on this story makes it clear at the bottom of his two-tweet thread: “Diamond only wants Atlanta”.
It’s yet to be seen what this means for the Twins, and their plans for 2024. The last we heard, it felt like a reunion with Bally Sports North was the most likely outcome. After this report, that no longer appears to be the case. Without knowing how much this new offer is for, it’s impossible to project where this leads.
Other options for Twins on TV next season
We know the Twins have had conversations with local TV stations, about a possible agreement. We haven’t seen the Twins play on a legacy TV network — like ABC (KSTP Ch. 5), CBS (WCCO Ch. 4) or FOX (KMSP Ch. 9) — or any of their sister channels since 2010 , when they last had a split season contract with what is now My29 (WFTC).
Local TV hasn’t had exclusive rights to an entire Twins season since 1982 , when they played an entire season on FOX9. The other very likely option is the Minnesota Twins and MLB launching their own channel, powered by MLB.TV.
You’d be able to stream directly through that service, but the channel would more than likely be a part of a separate package or channel with most TV providers. That option would be great for fans, but the Twins do not feel it would be good for their pocketbooks.
Related: Minnesota Twins Retaining Rocco Baldelli’s Right-Hand Man
No matter where Minnesota Twins games end up, it’s expected that Corey Provus, Audra Martin, Justin Morneau and the other from Bally Sports North will be re-hired by whoever picks up their games, should the organization decide to give up on Diamond Sports Group.
As of now, it doesn’t appear this latest day in court will affect what Diamond Sports Group has going with the Minnesota Timberwolves and the Minnesota Wild, who recently re-upped with Bally Sports North recently.
More must-reads:
Local News
