MINNEAPOLIS — The Minnesota Twins have produced a lot of compelling storylines during the first half of the season, but for many frustrated fans the season boils down to a single headline.
"The team is having a good season and no one can watch it," said Bobby Nightengale, Minnesota Twins Reporter for the StarTribune. "It just impacts so many people."
On Tuesday, Nightengale asked MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred about the ongoing drama between Bally Sports and regional cable providers such as Comcast, which is keeping the Twins from being seen by many fans. Manfred told him, and other baseball writers that a league-produced broadcast could help solve the problem.
"Manfred said it's up to the Twins to make their decision, but he kind of made the case for why you would want to do it the MLB's way," Nightengale said. "(The Twins) would get the streaming rights to games and fans in (the Twin Cities) would be able to watch when it's not on cable. The reach would be a lot better, fans would have a lot more access, but the team would get less money out of it."
According to Michael Rand, the StarTribune's Digital Sports Senior Writer, the money would likely be a whole lot less than some fans might realize.
"The Twins, even in 2023, were getting like $55 million from their local TV contract," Rand said. "We don't know the number this year. We assume it's less than that, but it's still more than what major league baseball would be able to offer them through MLB TV."
In his most recent article, Rand points out that the league's current platform isn't exactly paying off for the teams that have lost their regional providers. According to Manfred, the San Diego Padres have amassed the most season streaming subscribers, but even if the nearly 40,000 fans are paying $100 to stream games online that's still only generating $4 million.
"It kind of leaves the teams in a bad spot where you can either make more money or you can make your fans happy, but you can't do both right now. It doesn't feel like much of a choice to me if, if those are the choices," Rand said.
Nightengale told KARE 11 he doesn't think any of this will change for fans by the end of the year.
"I'm not very confident that things will change. Bally Sports' parent company, Diamond Sports Group, does have a bankruptcy hearing at the end of the month that could change something," Nightengale said.
"I think if we get something from that (hearing) where it says, yes, you are a viable entity going forward, then I could see at some point this season," Rand said. "Maybe not too far into the second half of the season for the Twins, you could have games back on Comcast."
If that doesn't happen, Rand believes the choice is clear for next year, even if the team has to take less money and risk angering a fan base with a lower payroll.
"You can overcome people upset about decisions or even some bad seasons if people are still engaged," Rand said. "But if they become disengaged, it's harder to get them reengage, and that is the challenge that they're gonna have going forward."