Diamond Sports Group, which owns and runs the Bally Sports Regional sports networks, has reportedly reached an agreement with the Minnesota Twins for the 2024 season bringing the team back to Bally Sports North in the Twin Cities' television market.
According to ESPN, agreements were reached with the Twins, Texas Rangers, and Cleveland Guardians and are still pending approval of a bankruptcy judge who is expected to rule by next Friday. Diamond has said they intend to broadcast games for all 12 teams they work with in 2024, including the Twins.
The Twins had been working hard behind the scenes to get a resolution to their TV situation with opening day just two months away. At a media luncheon last week, Twins President Dave St. Peter made it clear they were pressing for an answer, but added judges do not work under the same timelines.
What happens after this? It's still very unclear.
Two weeks ago, Diamond announced that it had secured $450 million from creditors to fund a reorganization plan that would include an additional $115 million from a new minority investor in Amazon. They were planning to provide direct-to-consumer access to the teams for which Diamond maintains streaming rights.
A judge is expected to rule on that restructure agreement by the end of February with a later-March deadline for Diamond to present a plan to the court.
This all has a significant financial impact on teams like the Twins who received $54 million last year from Bally/Diamond. The financial details for the 2024 season were not available, but the number was expected to be significantly less than last year's $54 million.
This also means there is still no direct-to-consumer streaming option to watch games. You'll only have access through your cable or satellite provider, something many fans have been clamoring for. That will have to wait until after 2024 at the earliest.