After a month of suffering, Minnesota Twins fans finally have something to cheer about. The long terrible Bally Sports North nightmare has finally come to an end.
It was a season defined by a bad television deal, as the Twins cut payroll after Diamond Sports Group filed for bankruptcy and Minnesota was left without a way to broadcast games. A check was eventually cut and the Twins returned to airing games on Bally Sports North, but even that turned into an even bigger disaster than it already was when Comcast dropped the channel and left a majority of fans without a way to watch games.
That's a mistake the Twins aren't aiming to make twice. In need of a new TV deal -- again -- the team parted ways with Bally Sports and will be linking up with the league instead.
On Tuesday the team announced that MLB will be taking over the production and distribution of games starting next season. The agreement is in line with what the Diamondbacks, Padres, and Rockies had last year and means that fans are finally free from the clutches of Bally Sports North.
Major League Baseball will produce and distribute Twins games beginning in 2025.
— Betsy Helfand (@betsyhelfand) October 8, 2024
Twins leaving Bally Sports North for a TV deal with MLB is a total game changer
It's impossible to overstate how massive this news is. Before the Twins were only available through one specific distributor (Bally Sports North) which had to be added to cable packages from providers that agreed to carry it.
By striking a deal with MLB, the Twins are providing a direct-to-consumer service which means that games will be easier to watch than they ever have been. The team announced that games will still be available on cable and satellite providers, but would also be available to stream directly from the team.
Here's the main part you need to know from the big press release the Twins and MLB put out announcing the decision:
"The arrangements with the Guardians, Brewers and Twins will be similar to how MLB produced and distributed games for the Arizona Diamondbacks, Colorado Rockies and San Diego Padres during the 2024 season. Last season, MLB negotiated cable and satellite distribution agreements and made direct-to-consumer streaming options available at Dbacks.TV, Padres.TV, and Rockies.TV."
This means you will not need to have Comcast or Spectrum to watch the Twins, you can go directly to the team's website to view the game. Details about how that will all work are still being ironed out, but the main takeaway is that Twins games will never have been as accessible as they will be next season.
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