Commissioner: MLB open to taking Twins TV broadcast rights next year

The Twins know their games will be broadcast on Bally Sports North for the remainder of the 2023 season.

Next year, however, hasn’t been settled.

The Twins’ 12-year contract with Diamond Sports Group, the parent company of Bally Sports North, expires at the end of the season. Diamond, which filed for bankruptcy, was ordered in federal court to pay the full $54.8 million rights fee for 2023 or terminate the contract. Diamond made its payments and maintained ties in hopes to reach a new deal with the Twins for future seasons.

Another suitor for the TV rights to Twins games will be Major League Baseball, which assumed Padres broadcasts after Diamond terminated its contract in San Diego. When commissioner Rob Manfred was asked Tuesday if the league would join the bidding, he responded “bidding is a funny word.”

“We will be available for teams that are looking for an alternative to the arrangement they are coming out of, or if they find themselves in a situation where there is not a bidder,” Manfred said.

When the league took over Padres broadcasts, it struck deals to broadcast games on DirecTV, AT&T U-Verse, Spectrum, Cox and fuboTV. Through the MLB app, local blackouts were lifted, so fans in the San Diego market could buy a subscription to watch Padres games for $19.99 per month.

Manfred said the number of local Padres subscriptions on the app were “well into the five figures.”

“It’s a pretty stock formula for us,” Manfred said. “What we’ve done in San Diego is whatever we can generate in terms of revenue in the traditional cable bundle, and whatever we can sell in terms of in-market subscriptions, that’s the revenue that would be made available to the club. We think we can provide a viable local media alternative to clubs.”

There are some notable changes from Bally Sports to a league-produced broadcast. Their score bug mimics the one from MLB Network. There is no formal pregame show for away games.