There's a chance Twins games will be easier to watch by August

A key bankruptcy court hearing involving Bally Sports operator Diamond Sports Group is set for July 29-30.

Jun 13, 2024; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; The Minnesota Twins celebrate after the game against the Oakland Athletics at Target Field. Mandatory Credit: Brad Rempel-USA TODAY Sports / Brad Rempel-USA TODAY Sports

It's been more than two months since Bally Sports North went dark for Comcast subscribers on May 1, making Minnesota Twins games impossible to watch in the local market generally everywhere outside of DirecTV and FuboTV. But the situation could change at the end of July as Bally Sports operator Diamond Sports Group enters another bankruptcy court hearing.

The next hearing is scheduled to begin at 10 a.m. CT on July 29 and will run into July 30. The hearing, according to ESPN, "will essentially determine whether Diamond will emerge from Chapter 11 reorganization."

Chip Scoggins of the Star Tribune interviewed Twins President Dave St. Peter earlier this month and he quoted St. Peter as saying the July 29-30 hearing "could be an inflection point either with Comcast and/or with maybe freeing up the ability for us to introduce a direct-to-consumer option in the market for the last couple months of the regular season."

St. Peter added that Twins fans might "have more options than ever in the near future to watch the team at an affordable rate."

According to SKOR North's Judd Zulgad, Minneapolis-St. Paul is one of three Diamond Sports Group markets that are dominated by Comcast, along with Detroit and Atlanta. That matters because, according to Zulgad, there is a chance that Diamond pulls out of the Minneapolis-St. Paul and Detroit markets if the bankruptcy judge doesn't rule in its favor later this this month.

"Odds are that Diamond would not pull out of Atlanta, but after the ruling by the judge there is a chance that Diamond will immediately pull out of the Twin Cities and Detroit, leaving the Twins, Wild and Wolves in the exact situation... that the Diamondbacks and Padres were left last year, which is, 'you take it, we don't want it but it's all yours,'" Zulgad said.

"If Diamond goes away, all blackout and streaming restrictions disappear with that contract and so the next day baseball and the Twins can market streaming inside the market, no blackout restrictions," Zulgad speculated.

Right now, Twins fans can only watch games via DirecTV and FuboTV. In-market streaming via Bally Sports+ isn't an option because of local blackout restrictions.

The Padres, Rockies and Diamondbacks are charging $20/month or $89.99 for the entire season to via their own streaming platforms. When the calendar flipped to July, both teams offered a discounted rate of $54.99 to stream all games for the remainder of the baseball season.

Something similar could be coming from the Twins depending on the July 29-30 hearing.

What would happen to customers who currently get Twins games on DirecTV and FuboTV? While Bally Sports North could hypothetically disappear, it's possible that MLB and the Twins could provide a new channel for those customers to continue getting the games. That new channel could also hypothetically be provided to Comcast customers.