Twins

[Steve-o]

Less than a buck a game...  Its probably worth it.  Thing is, we don't watch all the games.   

I reckon if I went to just one game, it'd cost me well over $100.

So what's the price or value of being able to follow the team all year?   

For me this year, that ain't it.  I ain't saying it ain't a fair price or a good value.  Thing is, the Pohlad's didn't put anything into the team this year.  Why should I?   

[Steve-o]

Twins broadcasts remain unavailable on major television providers

While Opening Day is right around the corner for the Minnesota Twins — Thursday, in fact, as they'll open their season at the St. Louis Cardinals — the organization is still yet to strike a deal with any major television providers. As of yet, at least.

Major League Baseball took over Twins broadcasts for this season, and the franchise remains confident that Twins.TV will be available to all interested cable customers by Opening Day. There are signs things are moving in the right direction with Twins.TV now available on 21 smaller and local television providers, and anyone can purchase the package for streaming.
Why is it so hard to do a stupid cable contract.   

I'm sure the Twins are happy to let MLB be the Scape Goat for the contracts, but once again, they're all keen on squeezing every thin dime out of subscribers and alienating their fanbase in the process.  G'luck.   

[Gunner55]

  Well, we have it........................no programming until Opening Day though. It looks like 20 other cable providers already have it to me too....................... .What Linear Distributors have signed on to carry Twins Baseball thus far?

BEVCOMM
Consolidated Telcom
Consolidated Telephone Company (CTC)
Dickey Rural Services
Gardonville Cooperative Telephone
Halstad Telephone Company
Interstate Telecommunications Company
MLGC
North Dakota Telephone Company
Northwest Communications Cooperative
Paul Bunyan Communications
Red River Telephone
Reservation Telephone Company
Runestone Telephone
SCI Broadband
Sjoberg's Cable
Tremolo Communications
United Telephone Mutual Aid
Venture Communications
West Central Telephone Association
Wikstrom Telephone Compan

[Gunner55]

 https://www.mlb.com/twins/schedule/broadcast-faq

[Gunner55]

  Channel 558 just appeared on our guide yday about noon, BSNOR/FDNOR is 556 here. It only says Off-Air until 3:00 Thursday when the Twins/Cards game is s'posed to start. The email we got from PB said since it was part our cable pkg last season, it would be again this year & at no additional cost. 

[Rookie]

Not the major Comcast in the Twin Cities. Which owns Midco which I have. I don't see Arvig on there either which is my other cable choice here.

[dutchboy]

It's the Pohladsnew 2025 business model.

1) Do nothing to get fans excited in the offseason about the upcoming season.

2) Leak a faux report about the team being for sale.

3) Eliminate any possibility if exciting the fans with a TV option except in the far outstate because they won't come to town more than once anyway.

I urge everybody not to buy the TV packages, do not attend a game until we can get these guys out of here.

They deserve this from the fans much more than the fans deserve them.

[glenn57]

pretty sure the last Twinkies game i went to was at the old met!!!!

cant recall the last time i watched the Twins on TV!!!!!!

[dutchboy]

According to the Pohlads new marketing policy you are the target audiance.

[glenn57]

According to the Pohlads new marketing policy you are the target audiance.

yea good luck with that.......

[LPS]

The last 6 years since I retired I have become a Twins fan but I won't pay for another channel to watch them.  Same with the Vikings.  If you want to show me your product so that I buy your shirts and hats and stuff I will watch with excitement.  If you want me to pay to watch your stuff I will find another hobby.

[dutchboy]

I would love to see how many years the Pohlad lived off the '87 & '91 World Series titles. Just think how many dollars those titles generated over time. Ticket prices went up both times and have yet to fall back a nickle. Then there is the concessions and swag.

[Gunner55]

According to the Pohlads new marketing policy you are the target audiance.

  Good 1, db!!!

[Steve-o]

G'Luck 

Report: Pohlads asking for at least $1.7 billion in Twins sale amid team's hefty debt

The Pohlad family is looking to sell the Minnesota Twins for a higher price than previously expected — at least $1.7 billion — which is in part motivated by the franchise operating in significant debt, according to a recent report from The Athletic.

According to The Athletic, the Twins have more than $425 million in debts, which are among the highest figures of Major League Baseball teams. That's led to a slightly inflated price point — Forbes valued the team at $1.46 billion in 2024. In talks with interested buyers, the Twins have deemed a $1.5 billion valuation "a non-starter," per The Athletic. Nevertheless, it remains unclear whether the Pohlads would be able to get $1.7 billion for the team as they restart the sales process following Justin Ishbia ending his pursuit of the franchise to instead increase his stake in the rival Chicago White Sox.

[LPS]

Interesting.  Here I thought they were already sold. 

[Steve-o]

Looks like Justin Ishbia took a look at the books - and the Pohlad's probably negotiated the way you think they might - and he said no thanks. 

This also from that same article...

The debt is only part of what's complicating a potential sale. Additionally, the franchise has been subject to multiple revenue struggles, from challenges with television partners to market size to dwindling attendance. According to The Athletic, there is also belief that executive chair Joe Pohlad would like to stay in control of the club, and him remaining with the team in some role wouldn't be an impossibility after a sale.

So the Pohlad's want all the money but Joe still wants to run the team?     G'Luck.   

[LPS]

Sure doesn't seem like they are very serious about selling.   

[Steve-o]

So let me get this straight...

The Pohlads/Twins are $425 million in debt.  So they want to sell the team for what its market value is PLUS the amount of money they are in debt.

Instead of...
Selling the team for market value MINUS the huge amount of money they are in debt.   

No wonder Ishbia wasn't interested. 

[dutchboy]

I would guess the debt would be subtracted from the purchase price. No different than buying a car with an outstanding lien against it.

[Steve-o]

Not if they jack-up the sticker price and don't tell you about it.  Everything's negotiable and ultimately a value decision for the buyer.  No, wait...  The Twins don't HAVE a buyer any more.   

Let's face it...  Its fun to root for the local boys and hard to wish ill will on them.  I still enjoy following baseball as a pastime.  But if the Pohlad's aren't going to try to make the team competitive when they have an opportunity to succeed - I hope attendance tanks this year.

Ol' Carl bought the team for $43 million and now the estimated market value is $1,500 million!  Figure it out!!!

So my new question is this...

If Twins payroll has been capped for several seasons due to self-imposed budgeting constraints, how is it that they've been able to run up a debt equivalent to 28% of the team's market value?!?   
Seems to me like someone is playing hide-the-sausage again.    But what do I know?  That's right... Absolutely nothing.

[dutchboy]

Daddy told me at a very young age "figures don't lie if liars don't figure." The past few elections should have been enough evidence that you can make anything look anyway you like if you have enough gullible people looking at things. As they say, you can put lipstick on a pig but it's still a pig. If the $1.7 billion price tag was legit they would have buyers lined up. That number was the high side, subtract the $450 million debt and it might not be enough for the Pohlads to live on. We'll see. In the meantime don't buy tickets or the TV package.

[savage270]

The last 6 years since I retired I have become a Twins fan but I won't pay for another channel to watch them.  Same with the Vikings.  If you want to show me your product so that I buy your shirts and hats and stuff I will watch with excitement.  If you want me to pay to watch your stuff I will find another hobby.

Every hobby and form of entertainment costs money.  I'm willing to pay the $20 a month to watch a competitive team, but will drop my subscription if they fall below .500.  I do the same with Fanduel to watch the Wild and Wolves.  That way I can support the owners doing it the right way and pull my support for providing a crapty product.  Plus its so convenient to have a game on your phone in the boat, the ice house, the garage or wherever you happen to be.  I used to be content listening to the radio with Herb, but I can't stand listening to Dan Gladden.

[Steve-o]

This Just In...  MLB, cable companies reach deal to broadcast Twins games
MLB, cable companies reach deal to broadcast Twins games

At long last, local cable providers have reached an agreement to bring the Minnesota Twins to your television.

Negotiating on behalf of the Twins, Major League Baseball struck deals with Xfinity, DirecTV and FUBO early Thursday morning to broadcast the team’s games over cable this season.

No longer in charge of negotiations, Twins officials expressed confidence in private as they waited alongside fans for a resolution, knowing MLB’s previous talks with cable providers on behalf of the San Diego Padres, Colorado Rockies and Arizona Diamondbacks weren’t resolved until the day before Opening Day in 2024.

By switching from FanDuel Sports Network, the Twins sacrificed a guaranteed annual payout in exchange for expanded reach. Whereas blackouts previously limited the product to only 1.3 million households across the five states that compose Twins territory, now fans in upward of 4.4 million households can watch games.

I guess you have to give credit where credit is due.  Play ball!

[Gunner55]

Yeah, Steve-o, that is pretty much what I was led to believe when I looked into it last weekend. That it was very possible that some of these deals wouldn't get done until Opening Day or even last minute. So, that it might even be a good idea to just check your coverage at the time of the Game1. As it's possible that an announcement might not have even been made yet.

[roony]

My wife is activity director at a nursing home. She is trying to find a way for the Twins fans there to be able to watch the games in their rooms at a cost the adminstrator will agree to. Not an easy task.

[LPS]

I don't see Twins on our schedule today.  3:15 game.  Espn has it on all day.  Maybe the TV guide isn't up to date yet. 

[Steve-o]

I haven't seen any other price information for the major outlets like Xfinity/Comcast and FUBO.  I doubt those carriers are going to throw it in "for free" this year.  It'll prolly be $99/year or $20/month - just like Twins.TV is charging to stream over the internet.

I don't know how all nursing homes work.  I think some have "free" cable and you get about 20-30 channels - like a cheap motel.  And I think others the residents are responsible for paying for their own full service cable packages.

So if y'er in one of those places with "free" cable, I doubt they'd have immediate access.  Better hope they have a smart TV that can load the MLB.TV or Twins.TV app and set up an account.  Good luck in teaching the residents how to open the Twins app on a smart TV.

If they have access to the full cable package direct to their rooms, they'd probably have to order it like everyone else.

[roony]

That's the problem, almost all of the tv's are not smart. They do have several channels on cable. Last year they got got the games but that was before the Twins organization got extra greedy.

[LPS]

I see on Twins.com it says on Fox free.

[Steve-o]

I see on Twins.com it says on Fox free.

I don't think we'll be seeing all the games free on Fox.  I'm not sure how to interpret that report.  I did see this...

Fox9: TWINS TV channels and streaming: How to watch Minnesota Twins games in 2025

Fans can watch games on cable and satellite, as well as streaming on the following channels:

- DIRECTV satellite and streaming (Ch. 668-3 or Ch. 668)
- Xfinity/Comcast (Ch. 1261)
- Spectrum (Ch. 428 or 468, and Ch. 319 for Spectrum Wisconsin)
- Midco (Ch. 638)
- Fubo and more.

Fans can also watch the games live or on-demand via one of three primary Twins.TV streaming subscription packages. They are:  A yearly subscription for $99.99.  Monthly subscription for $19.99

Meanwhile, the Twins currently have 11 scheduled national broadcasts this season, including games airing on Apple TV, FOX and Roku.

I take that to mean that Twins have 11 "free" games on national TV, and some of them will be on Fox.