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A transformation in the way baseball fans watch Twins games is coming.
Just not this year.
The Twins have reached a one-year deal with Bally Sports North and its bankrupt parent company, Diamond Sports Group, to televise their games on cable and satellite systems during the 2024 season, a source with knowledge of the deal confirmed Friday. But the team’s oft-stated plan to offer a streaming option to non-BSN subscribers will wait, under the new contract, until at least 2025.
Financial terms were not disclosed, but the deal is expected to include a steep cut from the $54 million BSN paid the team last season.
The agreement gives the Twins assurances that fans will be able to access their games this year, an urgent need now that Opening Day is less than two months away. But it does not include the ability for fans to stream BSN broadcasts without subscribing to a cable or satellite provider. A direct-to-consumer streaming option, which the Twins had said they were determined to create this year, is specifically prohibited in the new contract.
The deal, along with new agreements with the Guardians and Rangers, is not official until federal bankruptcy judge Christopher Lopez approves it. A hearing before Lopez was set for next Friday in Houston, and the Twins said they would not comment on their plans until then.
The contracts would give Diamond Regional Sports Networks the rights to televise 12 MLB teams for the 2024 season and would allow DSG to emerge from bankruptcy with plans to stay in business beyond 2024. DSG, citing billions dollars in losses due to a heavy debt load and the loss of millions of cord-cutting customers, which filed for bankruptcy a year ago this month.
The company defaulted on royalty payments owed to the Twins, Guardians and Rangers last April, but the bankruptcy court ordered it in June to pay those teams the full amount owed.
A recent report from The Athletic said the Guardians and Rangers had agreed to cuts of 15% or less to their 2024 rights fees in exchange for terminating their contracts at the end of next season. Terms with the Twins have not been made public, but a similar reduction would still net the team approximately $46 million for its 2024 schedule.
A lawyer for Diamond said at a hearing last month, when the company announced a new partnership with Amazon in hopes of staying in business, that the company would like to reach new long-term agreements with its MLB clients.
The new agreement with the Twins does not eliminate that possibility, but it makes clear that the Twins have not given up hope of finding a better option for the future, especially as MLB looks to develop a league-wide broadcast strategy to replace the regional networks. MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred, for example, has said that he hopes to create a “single” online option that allows all fans to stream games from across the league.