Minnesota Twins games could be on different channels in immediate future
Diamond Sports Group, the company that operates the Bally Sports Regional Network, dumped the San Diego Padres on Tuesday. The decision to relinquish broadcasting rights back to the Padres amid Diamond battling bankruptcy forced the Padres to immediately revise how fans are able to watch games.
The team released its plan to the public on Wednesday, announcing that Major League Baseball is taking over production and distribution of all LOCAL Padres games starting immediately with Wednesday's afternoon game against the Miami Marlins.
"The new arrangement gives fans the option to watch on television or stream digitally without local blackouts (subject to national exclusivities)!" the Padres announced.
Games will be televised on local San Diego providers including DirecTV, Cox, Fubo, AT&T U-verse and Spectrum, while fans without subscriptions to those providers can pay $19.99 a month to watch in-market games on MLB.TV. Streaming on MLB.TV will be free through Sunday, June 4, at which point users will have to subscribe, though a subscription comes with a 7-day free trial.
It's a good example of what could happen to Minnesota Twins games if Bally Sports North loses broadcasting rights. That situation could be resolved later Wednesday or by Thursday morning as a case involving payment terms from Diamond Sports Groups to the Minnesota Twins, Cleveland Guardians, Arizona Diamondbacks and Texas Rangers is currently in progress at U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Houston, Texas.
The case is being overseen by U.S. Judge Chris Lopez, who plans to rule immediately after closing arguments are made late Wednesday or early Thursday.
"We're going to go pretty late today. Hopefully we can finish today and if not, early tomorrow. And I'm going to rule right after [closing arguments]," said Lopez just before 12 p.m. CT Wednesday.
If Diamond Sports Group is ordered to relinquish broadcast rights back to the Minnesota Twins, games will no longer be on Bally Sports North. Instead, cable and satellite providers that currently carry Twins games will likely continue to do so on different channels, while a similar MLB.TV subscription service would also become available to Minnesota fans.
The Padres are keeping the current broadcasting team intact, so the assumption for the Twins, in the event that broadcasting rights are taken over by MLB, is that Dick Bremer, Justin Morneau and the rest of the broadcasting team will continue to work under the leadership of MLB.
This is a developing story and we'll have the latest as soon as the bankruptcy hearing ends later Wednesday or early Thursday.
