Amid bankruptcy, Bally Sports North plans to televise 153 Twins games
Despite the company that owns Bally Sports Regional Networks recently filing for bankruptcy, Bally Sports North says it'll televise 153 Minnesota Twins games this season.
"All games not airing exclusively on a national platform will air on Bally Sports North, BallySports.com and the Bally Sports app," Bally Sports North said in a press release Monday.
Diamond Sports, which operates Bally Sports Regional Networks, filed for bankruptcy last week. The regional sports network is home to 14 MLB teams, 16 NBA teams and 14 NHL teams. For Minnesota fans, Bally Sports North is home to the Twins, Timberwolves and Wild.
Because the NBA and NHL seasons are nearing the playoffs and Bally only carries first-round playoff action in both sports, games being unavailable because of the financial troubles isn't a real threat. But the baseball season begins at the end of March and runs through the summer and into the fall, meaning there is less long-term security about watching Twins games.
According to The Athletic, Diamond Sports has "indicated" to Major League Baseball that it "plans to walk away" from the Bally Sports stations that carry the Cincinnati Reds, Cleveland Guardians, Arizona Diamondbacks and Texas Rangers.
If push comes to shove and Twins broadcasts are threatened, early information and reporting suggests that MLB will do what it takes to make sure fans in any market will be able to watch their team.
According to the New York Post, which has been front-and-center on the breaking news about Bally's dire situation, says MLB plans to take over local broadcasts – while keeping the current broadcast crews – in the event that Diamond walks away from any local markets.
Dick Bremer will be back for his 40th season as the television voice of the Twins, and he'll be joined in the booth behind home plate by analysts/ex-Twins Justin Morneau, Roy Smalley, LaTroy Hawkins and Glen Perkins.
The studio hosts and field reporters at Bally Sports North will include Audra Martin, Katie Storm, Anthony LaPanta, Tim Laudner and Perkins.
Seven Twins games that will not be on Bally Sports North include:
- May 5 at Cleveland, Apple TV+
- May 12 vs. Cubs, Apple TV+
- June 2 vs. Cleveland, Apple TV+
- June 3 vs. Cleveland, FOX
- June 24 at Detroit, FOX
- July 2 at Baltimore, Peacock
- Sept. 2 at Texas, FOX
The Twins open the season March 30 at Kansas City, and that will be televised on Bally Sports North.
Title: Bring Me The Sports co-owner, editor Email: joe@bringmethenews.com Twitter: @JoeBMTN Education: Southwest Minnesota State University Location: Minneapolis, Minnesota Expertise: All things Minnesota sports Nelson has covered Minnesota sports for two decades, starting his media career in sports radio. He worked at small market Minnesota stations in Marshall and St. Cloud before joining one of the nation's highest-rated sports stations, KFAN-FM 100.3 in the Twin Cities. There, he was the producer of the top-rated mid-morning sports show with Minnesota Vikings announcer Paul Allen. His radio experience helped blossom a career as a sports writer, joining Minneapolis-based Bring Me The News in 2011. Nelson and Adam Uren became co-owners of Bring Me The News in 2018 and have since more than tripled the site's traffic and launched Bring Me The Sports in cooperation with the Sports Illustrated/FanNation umbrella. Nelson has covered the Super Bowl and numerous training camps, NFL combines, the MLB All-Star Game and Minnesota playoff games, in addition to the day-to-day happenings on and off the field of play. Nelson also has extensive knowledge of non-sports subjects, including news and weather. He works closely with Bring Me The News meteorologist Sven Sundgaard to produce a bevy of weather and climate information for Minnesota readers. Nelson helped launch and manage the Bring Me The News Radio Network, which provided more than 50 radio stations around Minnesota with daily news, sports and weather reports from 2011-17.