Still can't watch the Twins - I can't let this go.

[DJL44]

14 hours ago, Major League Ready said:

First rule in sales or any business for that matter is to keep your existing customers.   

Unless they subscribe to Comcast. If this is the first rule then the Twins broke it by going back to BSN.

[Riverbrian]

On 6/5/2024 at 3:06 PM, DJL44 said:

If the team had said 1/3 of the way through the season that their television partner was not going to be available on television? The team said "get cable if you want to watch the Twins this season". People got or kept cable. The biggest cable company didn't have the games as soon as the NBA season finished. The Twins didn't say "get cable if you want to watch the games in April and then you're hosed for the rest of the season".

I think people would be thrilled with a $180/year streaming option for Twins games (like Arizona offers). At least they wouldn't be at the mercy of their local cable company deciding whether or not they would show the games or leave them off the air. I'm pretty certain the Diamondbacks aren't going to take people's money and cut off broadcasts for most of the season.

I can't speak for everyone... only for myself. 

I was prepared for the new thing to be rolled out this off-season. I spoke with my wife about the possibility of dropping cable because I thought there was a very good possibility that the Twins would not be available on cable. I was waiting on the Twins... when the decision was made to go back to Bally for another year. The discussion was tabled in our house and honestly... my wife was relieved that it was over for the time being. 

I understand why exclusivity is necessary in such deals but I never thought that the Twins would end up in the position of selling exclusive rights to a company that can't provide the broadcast.

While not intended... In the end it simply means that they bought exclusive rights to prevent the broadcast. 

People can spin this anyway they want to spin it. If the Twins had it to do over again... I am 100% positive they wouldn't do this again. Signing a deal with a company in bankruptcy proceedings had this potential.  

Would I pay $180 a year like the D-backs are charging. Yes I would but cable would be gone because I'm not going to add significantly to my entertainment package just so I can be manipulated by whatever version of slanted news programming or watch people try to decide what home they want to buy in the Bahamas.

I understand that I can pay $80 bucks a month for Fubo and get my Twins back. I'm not going to do it... mainly out of principle because I didn't ask to be put in this position and I'm not going to make a major entertainment redesign only to have Comcast and Diamond come to an agreement or have the Twins make another off-season announcement that they are back on cable for 2025.  

I don't blame Diamond and I don't blame Comcast. I blame the Twins because it's their product and they sold it under the terms that allowed this. Diamond - Comcast... they have just taught me to not take anything for granted when it comes to them. I am more than ready to cut the cord as a result.    

I'm waiting for the Twins to pull their head out of their ass before I determine where I'm going to insert mine. Until then...  I'm just getting used to not watching the Twins.  

[Riverbrian]

29 minutes ago, chpettit19 said:

Again, the team never once corrected him and then the top team executive apologized for failing to meet the promise. This is such an awful take. His employment is dependent on the team liking what he says. Literally. That's his job. If he says things the team doesn't like they fire him. He made this statement multiple times over multiple days and the team never came out and said it wasn't true. He even explained that part of the reason he jumped to TV was because he was told the blackouts were done. Then, after they signed with Bally's, Dave St Peter (who is a team exec) came out and apologized for not ending blackouts like they'd said they would. Corey Provus absolutely had permission to say those things and it's willful ignorance to think he didn't.

If I had to guess. Corey Provus made those statements after he was announced as the replacement for Dick Bremer. 

That's called marketing. In with the new, out with the old. New broadcast team, new package, get ready to purchase this new exciting thing that will end the blackouts forever. 

If I had to guess. This was coordinated and something went wrong down the road.

Corey was clearly told the plan when he left the radio booth. This was not the plan if I had to guess.  

[Vanimal46]

14 hours ago, Linus said:

People are way overthinking this thing. The Twins made a complete mess of the TV situation. It’s literally their job to make this stuff work. It’s called customer engagement. It’s not my job to switch providers multiple times and pay exorbitant prices for that pleasure. It’s their job to bring the product to the customer. Anybody that says anything different is a shill for the Pohlads. 

Spot on. It’s not like this situation snuck up on them. The Twins should have been planning for life after BSN 2 years ago. Aaron Gleeman can keep saying the Twins were “pushed” into taking the 1 year deal. It doesn’t help. They took the largest sum of short term cash from a bankrupt organization. And ended up pissing off fans living in the region. 

[Major League Ready]

1 hour ago, chpettit19 said:

Again, the team never once corrected him and then the top team executive apologized for failing to meet the promise. This is such an awful take. His employment is dependent on the team liking what he says. Literally. That's his job. If he says things the team doesn't like they fire him. He made this statement multiple times over multiple days and the team never came out and said it wasn't true. He even explained that part of the reason he jumped to TV was because he was told the blackouts were done. Then, after they signed with Bally's, Dave St Peter (who is a team exec) came out and apologized for not ending blackouts like they'd said they would. Corey Provus absolutely had permission to say those things and it's willful ignorance to think he didn't.

Man, you just know everything.  The best way to do every single aspect of a MLB team.  How is it possible you are not running a MLB team.  Trades, roster construction, in game planning, medical, free agency, BOP strategy and everything else about the game and the business.  I have been down this path countless times with employees of clients who think like you they know everything.  Never once found that to be true.  It's possible Provus was given permission to discuss this but it most certainly is not certain.

[bean5302]

A bunch of different stuff being flung around in here.
The Padres are a poorly run franchise. Absolutely. They were being run by a dying owner who was pursuing a dream without regard to profit and loss or financial stability. The owner died in November of last year, and the Padres were forced to cut payroll by MLB because the team was violating rules for liquidity. Essentially, they were in danger of bankruptcy due to negative cash flows -$116MM (last year alone) and a lack of liquid assets. The Twins will never, ever be run in such a reckless manner with the current ownership (group/family).

The Diamondbacks are a poorly run franchise. Nope. They would have been in the same position as the Twins this year if they had buckled to Bally Sports/Diamond Sports last year. Instead, the Diamondbacks didn't blink and refused to agree to the deal they were being presented. They decided it would be best to go to MLB. Existing Cable TV subscribers were also given a special channel to watch the games, and MLB.tv subscriptions for in market games cost $19.99/mo.
https://www.mlb.com/press-release/press-release-mlb-to-produce-distribute-arizona-diamondbacks-games-july-18-2023

The Twins made a horrible choice in agreeing to terms with Bally Sports North/Diamond Sports. The group was already disreputable, but Dave St. Peter and ownership jumped on board yet again for a ride on a the bait-n-switch Tilt a Whirl with Bally's selling their latest Fyre Festival which turned out to be all smoke and mirrors when Comcast gave a swift kick in the gonads to the demands of the apparently Billy McFarland run Bally Sports groups.

There is a perpetrator here (Diamond Sports/Bally).

There is one stupid guy facilitator party here (Twins).

There is one real victim here (Twins fanbase)

[Mike Sixel]

19 hours ago, Major League Ready said:

Thank you!  The twisting gets tiresome.  The original post complained that Comcast and Bally's only cared about the almighty dollar.  Wow.  What a surprise that a business is concerned about profit,  Then, let's forget that anyone here could get the service if they were willing to pay for it.  Therefore, they are concerned about dollars which of course is reasonable.  Yet, somehow it's unreasonable for others involved in a business for the purpose of making money to be concerned about profit or for that matter survival in the case of RSNs and cable providers are getting hurt badly as well.   When expectations are that other parties should do something we won't,  there is no hope for logic to prevail. 

What does this mean? What does that whole paragraph imply, if not people here don't think businesses should make money?

It does seem a little silly to be outraged that a business is concerned about profit.

[chpettit19]

3 hours ago, Major League Ready said:

Man, you just know everything.  The best way to do every single aspect of a MLB team.  How is it possible you are not running a MLB team.  Trades, roster construction, in game planning, medical, free agency, BOP strategy and everything else about the game and the business.  I have been down this path countless times with employees of clients who think like you they know everything.  Never once found that to be true.  It's possible Provus was given permission to discuss this but it most certainly is not certain.

Wow. You honestly believe a guy who talks for a living (for over 20 years now) had a slip of the tongue, not once, but multiple times over multiple days? You think he lied about being told that blackouts were over? You think the team made no efforts to correct him so fans wouldn't get the wrong idea when he was making public statements? And you think Dave St Peter apologized just for fun? What an unbelievable take. 

Dave St Peter: "The disappointing news is we had said very openly that our top priority was expansion of reach of our games."
"And at the end of the day, we ended up doing a one-year deal on linear distribution only, and we recognize that leaves a growing number of our fans in a place where they’re gonna have a harder time watching our games."
"It’s clarity for ’24, but we’re not delivering on an objective that we had going into the offseason about expanding our reach, and we’ll double down on that priority for the future."

Maybe quit blindly defending the corporation and accept when they themselves are telling you things went poorly and they failed on their promises. The idea that Corey Provus would speak out of turn when his entire career is built on what he says is laughable. Businesses get it wrong all the time.

Dave St Peter: "The biggest thing is, we get it, we’re not tone-deaf. We understand the gap and feel horribly that we have, at least in the short term, been unable to address it. But we continue to focus on it, and I’m hopeful that maybe sooner vs. later we’ll be able to resolve the issue and enhance accessibility. I think it’s critical for the Twins." The president of the team is apologizing for, and acknowledging, all the things that went wrong that you're now telling us they did right. You're defending things the team themselves aren't even trying to defend and you think I'm the one who's too arrogant. Yikes.

[ewen21]

21 hours ago, Major League Ready said:

Thank you!  The twisting gets tiresome.  The original post complained that Comcast and Bally's only cared about the almighty dollar.  Wow.  What a surprise that a business is concerned about profit,  Then, let's forget that anyone here could get the service if they were willing to pay for it.  Therefore, they are concerned about dollars which of course is reasonable.  Yet, somehow it's unreasonable for others involved in a business for the purpose of making money to be concerned about profit or for that matter survival in the case of RSNs and cable providers are getting hurt badly as well.   When expectations are that other parties should do something we won't,  there is no hope for logic to prevail. 

If there was something there that you said in the other post that was unreasonable, I didn’t see it.  It’s not what people want to hear, but then that’s reality.

 

By the way, anyone who missed the last two games should feel lucky.  They looked much the roll over and die version of this team we’d get in NY when Gardy was on the bench.  Count your blessings that your Twins addiction is cuffed for this series

[howeda7]

The situation sucks and the Twins deserve blame. But let's not pretend that most of the people currently mad about them not being on Comcast would have gladly coughed up $200 to the Twins stream them. Most of them wouldn't have and would have been irate that it was the only way they could watch. The D-Backs, Rockies and Padres had no real choice. Their Bally's/AT&T RSN's went out of business. The Twins, at a minimum, should have negotiated a package of over-the-air games with Fox 9/45 etc. to ensure some access for the broader fan base that buys tickets.

[Major League Ready]

1 hour ago, chpettit19 said:

Wow. You honestly believe a guy who talks for a living (for over 20 years now) had a slip of the tongue, not once, but multiple times over multiple days? You think he lied about being told that blackouts were over? You think the team made no efforts to correct him so fans wouldn't get the wrong idea when he was making public statements? And you think Dave St Peter apologized just for fun? What an unbelievable take. 

Dave St Peter: "The disappointing news is we had said very openly that our top priority was expansion of reach of our games."
"And at the end of the day, we ended up doing a one-year deal on linear distribution only, and we recognize that leaves a growing number of our fans in a place where they’re gonna have a harder time watching our games."
"It’s clarity for ’24, but we’re not delivering on an objective that we had going into the offseason about expanding our reach, and we’ll double down on that priority for the future."

Maybe quit blindly defending the corporation and accept when they themselves are telling you things went poorly and they failed on their promises. The idea that Corey Provus would speak out of turn when his entire career is built on what he says is laughable. Businesses get it wrong all the time.

Dave St Peter: "The biggest thing is, we get it, we’re not tone-deaf. We understand the gap and feel horribly that we have, at least in the short term, been unable to address it. But we continue to focus on it, and I’m hopeful that maybe sooner vs. later we’ll be able to resolve the issue and enhance accessibility. I think it’s critical for the Twins." The president of the team is apologizing for, and acknowledging, all the things that went wrong that you're now telling us they did right. You're defending things the team themselves aren't even trying to defend and you think I'm the one who's too arrogant. Yikes.

So, if you ran the Twins and were announcing something as impactful as a new method of providing TV coverage, would you instruct the Play by Play announcer to get the message out or would you have a team executive issue a statement?

I am sure Provus was told their plan was to end black-outs and the plan changed.  I leave room for the possibility they intended to have Provus deliver that message but that would be a really half-assed plan.  If that was their plan, they might be as incompetent as you believe, at least in terms of business ops.  

[chpettit19]

2 hours ago, Major League Ready said:

So, if you ran the Twins and were announcing something as impactful as a new method of providing TV coverage, would you instruct the Play by Play announcer to get the message out or would you have a team executive issue a statement?

I am sure Provus was told their plan was to end black-outs and the plan changed.  I leave room for the possibility they intended to have Provus deliver that message but that would be a really half-assed plan.  If that was their plan, they might be as incompetent as you believe, at least in terms of business ops.  

Again, never called them incompetent. That's the word you put in everyone's mouth when they dare question any decision the Twins make on either the baseball or business side. And I'll, again, point to Dave St Peter who's literally the president of the team literally saying they failed. If you're going to dump on me for saying negative things about them maybe don't use a topic where they're saying the same thing to do it.

If you ran the Twins and an employee over-promised (without permission) something as impactful as a new method of providing TV coverage, would you temper expectations and put out an executive issued statement that you're hoping to meet those promises or just let your entire customer base believe the promise made by the person you literally pay to talk about the team?

We've gone back and forth enough on this. You think fans are wrong for being upset. The team has apologized for it so they seem to disagree. That's all we really need to know about the situation.

[Riverbrian]

From Do-Hyoung Park December 1st, 2023 11:48AM

"Cory Provus said that accessibility of the Twins TV broadcast for more fans was a very important factor in making his decision to move to TV. He says he's been told there will be no blackouts of the broadcast moving forward". 

 

 

[Major League Ready]

1 hour ago, chpettit19 said:

Again, never called them incompetent. That's the word you put in everyone's mouth when they dare question any decision the Twins make on either the baseball or business side.

If you ran the Twins and an employee over-promised (without permission) something as impactful as a new method of providing TV coverage, would you temper expectations and put out an executive issued statement that you're hoping to meet those promises or just let your entire customer base believe the promise made by the person you literally pay to talk about the team?

We've gone back and forth enough on this. You think fans are wrong for being upset. The team has apologized for it so they seem to disagree. That's all we really need to know about the situation.

You avoided my question.  Would you have made this announcement through Provus or would you have had a team official make this announcement.  If they told Provus no balck-outs were 100% certain they failed him but what he was told is not an official team announcement.  I listen and watch a lot of baseball programming and I never heard his comments.  Is this is really how they meant to announce it, I think their incompetent.

As I said, I am not completely dismissing the possibility Provus was chosen for this announcement.  I don't think that this is as crystal clear as you do.  However, if their intent was to kick this off via Provus, the overall plan would have been incompetent for a number of reasons.  They should have waited until they could tell people where and how to buy the subscription.  The information should have been on their website immediately after releasing the information.  They also should have had a social media campaign kicked off in the following days.  They should have had an email campaign to season ticket holders and anyone who has bought merch on-line and St. Peter should have taken interviews with media.  They did none of these things which means they either had a terrible plan or Provus jumped the gun.  Yes, they should have done something to step-back the comments Provus made.

[chpettit19]

21 minutes ago, Riverbrian said:

From Do-Hyoung Park December 1st, 2023 11:48AM

"Cory Provus said that accessibility of the Twins TV broadcast for more fans was a very important factor in making his decision to move to TV. He says he's been told there will be no blackouts of the broadcast moving forward". 

 

 

He then said it again on Gleeman and the Geek on December 18th. 2+ weeks later. Either the Twins were asleep at the wheel in telling him not to say those things or he ignored their instructions and said it again 2+ weeks later. Neither time did the team make any attempt to temper expectations. Pretty hard to see how the team didn't fail somewhere no matter how much anyone thinks they told Provus he could say.

[chpettit19]

15 minutes ago, Major League Ready said:

You avoided my question.  Would you have made this announcement through Provus or would you have had a team official make this announcement.  If they told Provus no balck-outs were 100% certain they failed him but what he was told is not an official team announcement.  I listen and watch a lot of baseball programming and I never heard his comments.  Is this is really how they meant to announce it, I think their incompetent.

As I said, I am not completely dismissing the possibility Provus was chosen for this announcement.  I don't think that this is as crystal clear as you do.  However, if their intent was to kick this off via Provus, the overall plan would have been incompetent for a number of reasons.  They should have waited until they could tell people where and how to buy the subscription.  The information should have been on their website immediately after releasing the information.  They also should have had a social media campaign kicked off in the following days.  They should have had an email campaign to season ticket holders and anyone who has bought merch on-line and St. Peter should have taken interviews with media.  They did none of these things which means they either had a terrible plan or Provus jumped the gun.  Yes, they should have done something to step-back the comments Provus made.

My answer to your question is that Cory Provus was quoted on the blackouts on December 1st and was on Gleeman and the Geek December 18th saying again that he was told they were done. I don't care what he was told he could and couldn't say, the team failed no matter what. They either told him he could say it or they didn't temper expectations after either incident of him saying it, and apparently didn't tell him not to say it after the first one. Unless, of course, you think they told him not to say it and he just completely ignored them and went around spouting off about blackouts and the team still didn't come out and refute him.

There's no doubt they failed in that situation. Dave St Peter later apologized for not ending blackouts. He was actually quoted in November as saying their number 1 priority this offseason was to expand access. The Twins have said they let their fans down, and that was before Comcast cut Bally's. Everything you've defended has either been apologized for by the team or is indisputable that they dropped the ball in 1 way or the other (either told Provus he could say it or didn't refute him after). Feel free to keep defending what nobody actually associated with the team is defending. But it's gotten to a ridiculous point now and it's not worth debating anymore. The Twins said they failed, but you're welcome to continue saying they didn't if that makes you feel better.

[Craig Arko]

This might be a more useful discussion if people here didn’t start turning on one another.

[chpettit19]

2 minutes ago, Craig Arko said:

This might be a more useful discussion if people here didn’t start turning on one another.

I'll take the blame for that and move on.

[DJL44]

26 minutes ago, Major League Ready said:

You avoided my question.  Would you have made this announcement through Provus or would you have had a team official make this announcement. 

If my choices for this announcement are Provus or Dave St. Peter I go with Cory Provus and it isn't a difficult decision. He's PAID to announce things.

[Riverbrian]

56 minutes ago, chpettit19 said:

He then said it again on Gleeman and the Geek on December 18th. 2+ weeks later. Either the Twins were asleep at the wheel in telling him not to say those things or he ignored their instructions and said it again 2+ weeks later. Neither time did the team make any attempt to temper expectations. Pretty hard to see how the team didn't fail somewhere no matter how much anyone thinks they told Provus he could say.

All you need is Google. Type in "Cory Provus Blackouts" and hit enter. A ton of hits follow.

Cory didn't do one single off the cuff interview. He's getting the word out and he isn't getting the word out because he decided to become a rogue messenger the first day on the job. 

When people are hired for high profile positions like this one. They get the word out. They try to get people excited about the change. Strike while the iron is hot. Cool potential outrage over the replacement of a long time friend like Dick Bremer. This is standard formation directly out of the playbook marketing 101.

When "No More Blackouts" appear over and over again... and they appear over and over again (Just do a Google search) they are shaping the message. 

It's more than a reasonable guess that both Cory Provus and the Minnesota Twins believed that "No More Blackouts" was going to be the result of whatever was about to happen.  

[Riverbrian]

1 hour ago, DJL44 said:

If my choices for this announcement are Provus or Dave St. Peter I go with Cory Provus and it isn't a difficult decision. He's PAID to announce things.

The News is -- Cory Provus is the New Television Play by Play Announcer.

Who would the media want to talk to about this? 

My guess is Cory Provus or Dick Bremer. 

 

[TheLeviathan]

2 hours ago, chpettit19 said:

I'll take the blame for that and move on.

Well, it definitely wasn't on you.  

In addition to what you and RiverBrian have posted, I'll add this link.  On the May 8th broadcast of Dan Barreiro's show, he opens up a vein about it as well.  You can start it at about the 30 minute mark and go from there.   Especially at 35 minute mark it's pretty clear the team was telling him that they believed there would be television coverage for the area.  He spoke out based on conversations with top brass.  Was he sent out as the mouthpiece and "sanctioned" for that?  Probably not.  Did he make it up whole cloth and just start spewing his own opinion?  No, that's equally ridiculous.  What he said was clearly the result of conversations he had.

Now, are these things fluid?  Sure.  But it's obvious to anyone whose not trying some herculian mental gymnastics that things didn't turn out the way the team planned and not the way they communicated with their lead announcer.

They made their bed with a dying model when they had alternatives.  Is it completely on the team?  No, the entire MLB media model is catastrophically stupid for the sport, but this particular problem was avoidable.  It was immediately avoidable this year if they had gone with MLB.  It was avoidable years ago with a less short-sighted approach to broadcasting. 

[Major League Ready]

13 hours ago, chpettit19 said:

My answer to your question is that Cory Provus was quoted on the blackouts on December 1st and was on Gleeman and the Geek December 18th saying again that he was told they were done. I don't care what he was told he could and couldn't say, the team failed no matter what. They either told him he could say it or they didn't temper expectations after either incident of him saying it, and apparently didn't tell him not to say it after the first one. Unless, of course, you think they told him not to say it and he just completely ignored them and went around spouting off about blackouts and the team still didn't come out and refute him.

There's no doubt they failed in that situation. Dave St Peter later apologized for not ending blackouts. He was actually quoted in November as saying their number 1 priority this offseason was to expand access. The Twins have said they let their fans down, and that was before Comcast cut Bally's. Everything you've defended has either been apologized for by the team or is indisputable that they dropped the ball in 1 way or the other (either told Provus he could say it or didn't refute him after). Feel free to keep defending what nobody actually associated with the team is defending. But it's gotten to a ridiculous point now and it's not worth debating anymore. The Twins said they failed, but you're welcome to continue saying they didn't if that makes you feel better.

You avoided the question once again.   Your "answer" provides nothing that would tell me if "you would have made this announcement through Provus or would you have had a team official make this announcement" .   That was the question.  When you don't want to answer a question, you say it's no longer worth debating.   

Could it be that you know the objective answer is that there are two possibilities.  One is that rolling out the news of a new broadcast program that eliminates blackouts would have been incredibly inept which points to that it probably was not their plan or two, they really are completely inept. 

Are you willing to answer the question or not?

 

[Major League Ready]

13 hours ago, DJL44 said:

If my choices for this announcement are Provus or Dave St. Peter I go with Cory Provus and it isn't a difficult decision. He's PAID to announce things.

Take whichever context you like.  In the 40 years  Dick Bremer was PBP announcer or across all of MLB, how many times did a team PLB person announce key organizational changes, new managers, 1st round signings, etc.  Never, right?  Was this a inconsequential announcement?

Let's say they did something this unusual.  Having made a business decision to drop the source of 20% of your revenue, would you have supported the announcement with information on your website as to where one could find these broadcasts?   Would you have advertised this new service?  Made announcements across multiple social media platforms?   How about arrange an interview with one of the local TV channels?  Email your season ticket holders?   

If this was their plan, they are incredibly inept.

[DJL44]

1 hour ago, Major League Ready said:

they are incredibly inept.

That I can agree on wholeheartedly. They have managed to negotiate the worst television deal of any major sport.

[Craig Arko]

3 hours ago, Major League Ready said:

You avoided the question once again.   Your "answer" provides nothing that would tell me if "you would have made this announcement through Provus or would you have had a team official make this announcement" .   That was the question.  When you don't want to answer a question, you say it's no longer worth debating.   

Could it be that you know the objective answer is that there are two possibilities.  One is that rolling out the news of a new broadcast program that eliminates blackouts would have been incredibly inept which points to that it probably was not their plan or two, they really are completely inept. 

Are you willing to answer the question or not?

 

I don’t think shouting orders at people here contributes anything to the discussion. 

[kristian]

On 6/4/2024 at 9:26 PM, MN Brian said:

I wouldn't agree.  I tried this last year.  I'm a very technical guy.  Setting things up to watch on my tv without redirecting all my internet traffic was fine, but a pain.  But MLB.tv was very aggressive about blacklisting the VPN's and it turned into a big cat & mouse game.  When I want to watch the game, I just want to sit down and watch it.  And you still needed to pay for the MLB.tv subscription, the VPN subscription (I wouldn't use a freebie), & potentially hardware depending on your set-up.  While the Fubo stream is about twice the cost for the season, it's worth it so far for ease of use.  Would be different if I was still young and my time was worth less.

So, can a VPN work?  Certainly.  No issues?  Don't buy it!

It's funny, I've had very differing experiences year-to-year. Two years ago, it worked great, no issues (worked 90-95% of the time). Last year, lots of issues (worked @50% of the time). But this year for whatever reason, it's back to working at least 90% of the time and I've had no issues once I got it all figured out.  Is it a pain? ehh... only slightly. It's one extra step to load the app on my smart TV or computer or phone or iPad before starting the MLB app. But honestly, this year it's been great.

If you already have an MLB.tv subscription, most VPN's offer free trials to test it out. Happy to provide tips for anyone that wants to give it a go.

[Major League Ready]

4 minutes ago, Craig Arko said:

I don’t think shouting orders at people here contributes anything to the discussion. 

You will have to elaborate on how asking Chpettit19  if he "would have made this announcement through Provus or would you have had a team official make this announcement". 

This seems like perfectly reasonable question.  I also asked of him and other if they would have supported the announcement with information on your website as to where one could find these broadcasts?   Would you have advertised this new service?  Made announcements across multiple social media platforms?   How about arrange an interview with one of the local TV channels?  Email your season ticket holders?   

I leave room for the possibility they are completely this inept but it causes me to seriously question of their plan was to release this through Provus or if he jumped the gun in speaking about it.   I asked the question of Chepittit19 because expect he would not enact a plan this inept.  If I assigned this to a marketing intern, not that I would, I would expect a far more sophisticated plan.  We all know this but to acknowledge that PBP guys don't make these kind of announcements and more telling, they did not in support of the announcement would cause an objective person to question if this was the Twins plan.   

[TheLeviathan]

No one is construing Cory Provus as having climbed to the mountain top, regaled in Twins official branding, to proclaim the broadcasting plan via a scroll written in blood.  Yeesh. 

Provus didn't make a formal announcement, so the question is silly.  What Provus DID do, however, was pull the curtain back on what the team was trying to achieve.  An actually objective person would say that the team's marketing staff would've rushed to correct those statements if they were seriously in contrast with their plan at the time.  An objective person would look at the team's public apology and recognize that the outcome doesn't seem to have matched their intents either.  (Intents which align to what Provus stated)

An actually objective person would realize this train went off the rails because the Twins were flying by the seat of their pants on an issue they haven't managed well for decades now. (And have been accutely bad at recently)  In the end they chose the biggest bag of money they could get right now.  That is a defensible move on some level, arguable on others.  It's also the easiest, least conspiracy-driven explanation of it.

An "objective" person wouldn't need to have this laid out so many times for them to get off their strawman.

[howeda7]

It doesn't absolve the Twins of blame, but I think MLB had more to do with this than most appreciate. It's likely Twins followed their lead believing some sort of group MLB streaming solution for the effected teams was going to happen and then it didn't. Rather than do it on their own, they took the $$ from Diamond and kicked the can. That's also likely why the D-Back/Rockies/Padres announced their distribution details right before Opening Day, because they had to scramble to get deals negotiated DirecTV/Cable/Fubo after MLB's plan stalled out.