This Second Half Feels Pivotal for the Twins Franchise From a Big-Picture Perspective

I agree with this article as well. Winning draws attention away from the other stuff: losing puts it on the forefront. From a payroll perspective they should be able to manage it because they are in a position now to be able to fill backup roles with cheap young players. I haven’t always been a fan of Falvine as I don’t agree with some of principles they stick to but the results are starting to show. Their pitching is better than it used to be and they have a youngish lineup with more talent on the way. 

The potential collapse of regional sports networks after the resolution of Diamond Sports's corporate viability is a serious revenue danger not just for the Twins but a dozen clubs. Attendance is down by similar percentages at many other clubs, suggesting that recessionary trends nationwide are leading people to cut down on less necessary purchases.

Any team willing to part with six years' money for Carlos Correa deserves the benefit of the doubt. The Pohlads may tap into their personal wealth to a greater degree to maintain the Twins' viability, and I'm not inclined to say they won't if necessary. And the growth of the farm system shows that they're trying to remain competitive as long as possible while revenue issues remain unresolved.

Not to be all doom and gloom, but I agree with the premise of the article.  Things are more than a bit dire for the Twins brand.

More playoff wins would help rekindle fan interest, boost the attendance next year, and thus the payroll.

Anecdotally, I remain interested and post more often on here because my cohort of friends have largely stopped paying attention to and talking about the Twins.  They've moved on, some because they can't watch on cable, some because of the payroll doom and gloom, some because they would rather just spend their time doing something else.  Nobody has even mentioned a Road Trip to Minnesota this year, which used to be a once a summer weekend trek for several of us from the hinterlands of Twins territory (yet still within MLB's idiotic blackout territory).

If they don't get back on the tube, not even winning is going to make a difference. And if you think that it'll improve for the playoffs here's who has the broadcast rights for 2024: FOX, FS1, TBS, ESPN, ESPN2 and MLB Network. If you note, only Fox is a non-cable, non-subscription option. 

41 minutes ago, BH67 said:

The potential collapse of regional sports networks

Inevitable, not potential. This is the death rattle.

1 hour ago, Original_JB said:

If they don't get back on the tube, not even winning is going to make a difference. And if you think that it'll improve for the playoffs here's who has the broadcast rights for 2024: FOX, FS1, TBS, ESPN, ESPN2 and MLB Network. If you note, only Fox is a non-cable, non-subscription option. 

All of these networks are broadcast on a variety of streaming services.  

1 hour ago, Jocko87 said:

I'm not sure I get the point of this article. I was quite interested when I saw the headline. Surely Nick had an interesting angle on which mid 20s former prospects were about to be swept away by a new wave of certain to cure our chronic Minnesotis, we got it right this time kids in shining armor.

Nope, just another grumble piece to remind fans that aren't gripped in the Minnesota loser vortex to not enjoy, lest something happen. Gleeman as the voice of the fan, yikes. Voice of the Minnesota mentality (solid sports team name) who's motto is nice things not allowed.

I'd bet maybe 5% of all fans have a view even remotely close to the Gleeman summation and many of those have it because of him. 

Any reason why this feels bigger than the stinker teams they fielded after the new stadium opened? They are doing the most important thing correctly, building a consistent winner, the TV deal will vanish into the memories of only a few. If Gleeman lets it.

That much is obvious....

I don't think it's a stretch to say that the percentage of users on this site (people with higher than average investment levels) who view the situation similarly to Gleeman far exceeds 5%. And no, those who hold that opinion aren't simply lemmings. It's highly unlikely that fans with lower investment levels would be less affected by the blackouts and payroll purge. 

Great article.  I agree with it.  They have done such a poor public relations job just this past year alone.  The TV debacle has been going on fir at least 4 years.  Every couple of months they tell us it will be fixed.  But here we go again.  Plus they pretty much pushed 40 year anniuncer Dick Bremer out the door and try to tell us he retired.  Whether you like Bremer or not a man that has spent 40 years in the TV booth should be allowed to pretty much go out on his own.  Then cutting payroll telling us there was no money coming from Bally Sports.  Then getting money from Bally and not investing it back into the team.  Closing the upper  bowl of sears the first several games thus making some people pay more to sit in more expensive seats.  The giveaways this year have been a joke.  Many times the freebies are only given to the first 5000 fans.  Sometimes 10000 fans.  How do you explain to your grandsons that even though you were nearly one hour early to get the freebies they were out and they couldn't get one?  It used to be thousands more.  Not to mention over $200 for the game.  It's a good thing the team is playing well or who cares?

26 minutes ago, Major League Ready said:

All of these networks are broadcast on a variety of streaming services.  

That's the problem. To get the games you need to buy a variety of streaming services.

It is certainly clear from a PR standpoint that they have pretty much dropped the ball.   "Out of sight, out of mind" summarizes the debacle of the TV deal and its effects.

51 minutes ago, Major League Ready said:

All of these networks are broadcast on a variety of streaming services.  

if you have a subscription....

Of course it is.  It’s monstrous.

If we can’t do some damage in the playoffs, or even make the playoffs, with basically the whole division in a rebuild cycle and no clearly dominant/unbeatable AL teams, payroll “maxed out,” Lopez, Buxton, and Correa on big lengthy contracts, most of our marquee prospects (or recent prospects) at the major league level (namely Lewis and Lee), and guys like Correa, Buxton, Castro, Miranda, Ryan, Jax, etc. all having career years simultaneously (lightning doesn’t strike twice in that regard)….that’s an absolutely epic failure and we start staring down the barrel of a fairly tough roster situation with no easy way out.

Im already feeling relatively hopeless when it comes to this team seriously competing for a championship again in my lifetime.  That may be a coffin nail.

27 minutes ago, DJL44 said:

That's the problem. To get the games you need to buy a variety of streaming services.

I don't know exactly what all the services provide but I switched to one that carries ESPN / Fox / TBS and MLB on a single service.  There must be others.

3 hours ago, Jocko87 said:

They are doing the most important thing correctly, building a consistent winner, the TV deal will vanish into the memories of only a few. If Gleeman lets it.

The TV deal will vanish from my memory once I forget we have a team, given I haven't seen a game on TV in two years.

Why can the Guardians avg. 25,000 per game or the Brewers 30,000 per game with a smaller payroll? I don't know what their TV revenue is. But it can be done. It's called marketing. The Twins don't have a marketing dept? Or do they just suck at it. Or have they just damaged the fan base beyond repair. The Angels are terrible.  I think they averaged over 40,000 for their 3 game weekend series vs the Twins

Lots of baseball to watch tonight. Every game that isn't on Apple+ is free on MLB.tv!

43 minutes ago, TwinkieFan4life said:

The TV deal will vanish from my memory once I forget we have a team, given I haven't seen a game on TV in two years.

They're on TV on Sunday!

What a bunch of doom and gloom - and for no reason.

Sure, payroll will fall next year, as it should.  Farmer, Kepler, Santana and Margot will be gone and replaced by Lee, Julien, Wallner and one other (take your pick between Kiriloff, Rodriguez, or someone else). Plenty of money left over for some extensions. Next year’s lineup with those guys, Lewis, Miranda, Castro, Correa, Buxton, Jeffers, Ryan, Lopez, SWR, Ober, one or two of our young starters and Duran, Jax and Alcala leading the pen is a GREAT lineup.
 

This team will not only win, but be more exciting to watch.  Also, the tv deal will get resolved. The combination of those three will drive an increase in attendance.  Also, if we get inflation to moderate, that would give fans a little more disposable income to spend on seeing the Twins.

The gloomy continuous drivel about ownership’s supposed penury is just nauseating. I know for a fact the franchise loses upwards of tens of millions on a cash basis every year (and, yes, the equity value increases might be equal to or exceed those losses, but cash is cash).  The Twins are actually a pretty well run, classy organization,  If you don’t like it, either go make several billion yourself and buy the team, or just quit being a fan.

I for one think the future is bright and the team’s long term plan is shaping up nicely - and the team continues to be competitive as it does.

2 minutes ago, Nashvilletwin said:

What a bunch of doom and gloom - and for no reason.

Sure, payroll will fall next year, as it should.  Farmer, Kepler, Santana and Margot will be gone and replaced by Lee, Julien, Wallner and one other (take your pick between Kiriloff, Rodriguez, or someone else).e as it does.

That is reason enough for doom and gloom.

Lee - OK - Joey Julien and Joey Wallner - pfft ; they better do well in the post season this year, with those no post season.