Twins Likely to Return to Bally Sports North, Limit In-Market Streaming, in 2024.

13 hours ago, nicksaviking said:

Ala cart options doesn't work for me and most others. Even if it was $20/month, it's hard to justify paying 120 per year just to watch baseball when that's the only thing that platform is good for and no one else is interested. It has to get on major streamers with a plan that's already budgeted. And $20/month is a pipedream right now; currently it's nearly $500 per year!

The NFL reaches the masses, shouldn't getting back to the NFL level of popularity be the goal? Forget about die hard fans, they will lose every casual fan who watches baseball just because they're scrolling through the programs and that's the most appealing option. Like was done for the past half century.

The sport is in real trouble if fans don't find coverage of 162 games to be worth $120.  

On 2/3/2024 at 8:46 AM, TNtwins85 said:

This is the classic situation of upper management talking out of both sides of their mouths. Falvine is given a budget by the suits. I’m still flummoxed in the fact that they didn’t see this coming at all and had nothing in place whatsoever. From how they’ve handled all this it seems like they simply forgot that they’re contract was ending and didn’t read the Wall Street journal and hear that diamond was going bankrupt. It’s like this just came up in a memo on Monday morning and everyone forgot to check it. They had to have known this was happening and the fact they did absolutely nothing to prepare for it and had to beg a bankrupt business to offer them a bad contract is negligent at best. Dave St. Peter needs to answer to this as he is the fall guy and face of upper management. This has nothing to do with Falvine and has everything to do with everyone higher on the totem pole.

I am ok with the limbo aspect of this process.  We are not privy to all of the restrictions and rules placed on the Twins during the bankruptcy process, there could be many reasons why things went the way the went.

I am not ok with the Twins screaming "no tv contract means no spend" when there was zero doubt by anyone there would be some contract in place for this season and the money that goes along with it.  I have been yelling this for months, it is an extremely bad look for the Twins and a horrible approach for this fan base that had been expecting the Twins to be WS contenders this year, only to have the carpet pulled out from under them.  This is so reminiscent of the late 90's/contraction nonsense...

34 minutes ago, nicksaviking said:

Die hard fans will, but what casual fan will pay a dime for it? And casual fans have made up the majority of the sport's fans for a century.

The sport is in dire trouble. People who don't know the Broncos from the Buccaneers have NFL games playing in the background of their Sunday afternoons. MLB needs to get back to that level or it's going to die. It will never gain new generations of fans. Young people who don't know baseball but are willing to give it a shot aren't going to fork over money to see it.

I don't think the root of their problem is availability although it certainly does not help.  The younger segments of potential viewers have grown up playing Soccer, Lacrosse, etc. and being exposed to extreme sports that were not nearly as popular when some of us were kids.  The game is slow and just does not appeal to a growing percentage of potential fans.   The changes they made will help a little but the league has a multitude of challenges.  

On 2/3/2024 at 9:06 AM, Althebum82 said:

You are correct that it could be a consideration for KSTC because the games would not conflict with any network (ABC) contractual commitments (or, quite frankly scheduling headaches connected to away games from different time zones) that would be an obstacle for KSTP or any other local TV broadcast channel.

However, KSTC's distribution outside of the immediate metro area is limited.  Its OTA signal does not extend far enough and many outstate and out-of-state cable/satellite options do not carry it, which would provide limited value to the deal for the team.  

You could be right on the broadcast signal, but I think they're more available out-state on cable systems than you think, given they pay big $$ to carry the state tournmanets etc.  I know for sure they're on DirecTV everywhere in the MSP market and I imagine Hubbard makes KSTP/KSTC a package deal with most operators.

On 2/3/2024 at 10:01 AM, Parfigliano said:

Another example showing taxpayer financing for stadiums is a sucker bet for the taxpayers.

TV rights have nothing to do with the stadium. You can have the opinion that the $.03 on $20 tax is not worth having a major league baseball team.

But you can't pretend there is a magical world where the Twins would still exist in the Metrodome in 2024 or would have paid 100% of the cost of a new stadium.

Apparently the bankruptcy court approved all the deals including the Twins. 
I can’t find much specific info other than it was for slightly less money than last year and the agreement included strict confidentiality clauses which I found interesting. Does anyone have more / better info on this?

29 minutes ago, Linus said:

Apparently the bankruptcy court approved all the deals including the Twins. 
I can’t find much specific info other than it was for slightly less money than last year and the agreement included strict confidentiality clauses which I found interesting. Does anyone have more / better info on this?

There isn't going to be any more information unless someone breaks the confidentially agreement.  However, if the "slightly less money" is correct, Soler might still be a possibility.

The deal is final and the contracts quiet, thus no real certainty on amount for the year. This seems like it was expected all along and the teams were uncomfortable with a situation that might go bad and felt it necessary to proceed with caution. The public relations hit is not good, so MLB and the teams are trying to keep a focus towards impending Spring Training and not on the media morass and those details. Streaming will not be an option from what I gathered from a release.

What baffles me is that the Twins are led by Joe Pohlad, 41 years old. I know a ton of people in the 30-50 age range (my own children, coaching, etc.).  I would guess that 90% plus are what we call "cord cutters". Did the Twins not see this? The court sanctioned deal gives the Twins a year to sort through their options. Yet they are coming off of a year to weigh their options. Sounds like someone dropped the ball within the organization, who might soon be reworking a resume. 

The market numbers suggest viewership of Twins games was up last year, but as discussed on this thread and elsewhere the number of people left unable to access the games is growing. Maybe I am way off base, but it seems like if people in the 5-50 age range do not have access to Twins games, future revenues may be dwindling. Out of sight, out of mind.

While I have no idea ever what Falvey is up to, I can't see the Twins signing Snell, Montgomery, or Bellinger. The rest of the pile is more or less redundant to others already on the 40 person roster. Perhaps Soler is different but as a DH he also seems like an unlikely addition.

7 hours ago, tony&rodney said:

The deal is final and the contracts quiet, thus no real certainty on amount for the year. This seems like it was expected all along and the teams were uncomfortable with a situation that might go bad and felt it necessary to proceed with caution. The public relations hit is not good, so MLB and the teams are trying to keep a focus towards impending Spring Training and not on the media morass and those details. Streaming will not be an option from what I gathered from a release.

What baffles me is that the Twins are led by Joe Pohlad, 41 years old. I know a ton of people in the 30-50 age range (my own children, coaching, etc.).  I would guess that 90% plus are what we call "cord cutters". Did the Twins not see this? The court sanctioned deal gives the Twins a year to sort through their options. Yet they are coming off of a year to weigh their options. Sounds like someone dropped the ball within the organization, who might soon be reworking a resume. 

The market numbers suggest viewership of Twins games was up last year, but as discussed on this thread and elsewhere the number of people left unable to access the games is growing. Maybe I am way off base, but it seems like if people in the 5-50 age range do not have access to Twins games, future revenues may be dwindling. Out of sight, out of mind.

While I have no idea ever what Falvey is up to, I can't see the Twins signing Snell, Montgomery, or Bellinger. The rest of the pile is more or less redundant to others already on the 40 person roster. Perhaps Soler is different but as a DH he also seems like an unlikely addition.

IDK exactly what prevented a streaming deal but the need to end blackouts and the cord cutting trend was likely not the problem.   It does not take a sophisticated business mind or anything more than a modest awareness of the issues with viewership.  It's just not complicated.

What is complicated is complicated is orchestrating a long-term deal to meet the legal rights and interests of all the parties.  I am sure the league has some long-term interests that they don't want to jeopardize.  It looks to me like the Twins could not sign a deal with Bally and a streaming deal that met their long-term agenda.  Obviously, IDK this but that's what reading between the lines would suggest.   

If they were so incompetent as to have not assessed all of their options and started negotiations a year or more ago, yes, that would be a puzzling level of incompetence.  It's just really hard to believe it didn't happen because they did not understand the need.