There's a bankruptcy case goingn
right now in Texas this afternon
that could change the way you ae
able to watch the Minnesota Twis
play baseball as early as tomor.
And even if you're not a fan of the Twins,
the ramifications of what happens in that
court case could impact a whole lot of
the teams you love in the years to come.
That's because the bankruptcy involves
the parent company of Valley Sports North,
and Valley Sports North broadcast the Twins,
the Lynx, the Wild, and the Timberwolves.
So, Kent, this case is just abot
baseball right now, right?
Right. It's a payment dispute
with Major League Baseball,
which is now fighting to take
over broadcasts of several team,
including the Twins.
If Bally Sports doesn't pay its
contract in full during its bankruptcy,
if the judge sides with the lea,
that means where and how you wah
could change as soon as tomorro.
How do I know?
Because that's just what happend
in San Diego yesterday.
The Padres cut ties with Bally d
announced that games would still
be available to cable subscribe,
just on different channels.
And they also added a new streag
option for anyone for a monthly.
Now, Star Tribune sports writerd
podcast host Michael Ran has ben
following all of this for month,
and today I caught up with him to see
what it might mean for all kinds of fans.
What's going to happen with
the broadcast team, say,
if tomorrow the Twins are going
on their own with MLB? What's
been reported about the Padres s
that they kept the broadcast te,
you know, kept the play by play,
kept the same analysts.
So I don't think a lot about
the broadcast itself changes,
at least not right away.
One of the things I found interesting
about San Diego is that they sad
there'll be many more people that will
actually be able to watch the team now.
Yeah, because there's just more access.
People are always saying like
I can't get the games anymore.
I signed up for this,
that and the other thing.
Now Valley Sports North isn't on
these channels or I've cut the
cord and now I don't get this.
Making it available over a diret
to consumer kind of streaming
platform all of a sudden,
like they're saying in San Diego basically
will triple their potential audience.
Teams are starting to realize tt
there's a benefit to getting yor
product in front of people instd
of trying to hide it from them.
That's the potentially positive
side of all this.
The other side would be someone
that wants that all in one kind
of package with all the teams.
Are we going to? Have that anym?
That's a great question.
Like I think in the short term
you still will.
The model we're seeing play outn
San Diego is that if you still e
DIRECTV or if you still have cable carriers,
you're still going to get that.
But if you get to a point where
you don't want to have the cable
bundle or the satellite bundle,
but you like the Twins,
you like the Timberwolves,
you like the Vikings,
you like the links,
you like Minnesota United.
All their games are on Apple
TV right now. There's a lot
of places you have to go to get these.
There's a lot of like little
subscriptions you have to
pay for. You add them all up and
will that be still a cost savin?
Things to the consumer, I don't know.
I wanted to ask you about the
links in the Wild and the Wolve,
because is any of their status h
Bally Sports North up in the ai.
Still haven't heard anything
directly about those teams yet.
Now that doesn't mean that there isn't.
The question of how that all plays out,
a lot of links games on Valley
Sports North right now,
I think 31 of their forty games.
What I understand is that the Wd
and the Wolves at least have a
couple years left on their cont,
depending on how bankruptcy
court plays out with those team,
it doesn't seem like those are as imminent.
And with the Twins,
we've been hearing so much about
because regardless of kind of hw
all of this litigation plays ou,
their contract is up with Ballys
at the end of this year,
kind of a new era of free agenc.
Kind of like all these teams are trying
to figure out how to get games to fans.
All people really want is access to teams at
a price they feel is fair and reasonable.
And, you know,
for a long time the regional
sports model worked,
but then people started cutting the cord.
Then people started kind of buyg
these streaming packages when is
kind of created this fragmentatn
where you kind of don't know
exactly where it's all headed.
I don't think things are
going to become more easy.
I think they're going to become
more complicated as time goes o.
Maybe not exactly what you wanted to hear.
They're not ending on a positive note.
But keep in mind, the only thing that
might get more complicated in te
very near future is with the Tw.
And if you always wanted to wath
games without a cable package,
you could soon be in luck. Jenn,
right? If they go the
route that San Diego went,
which is go with MLB and stream them.
But, you know, you and I talked
about this a lot today, because it's.
Very confusing. And that confus,
I think, leads to exhaustion,
which just leads to giving up that you
just don't get to see your team anymore
and you're just mad at big busi.
Yeah, and I think that's what
these teams are grappling with.
There's a lot of potential monen
streaming, but you've got to mat
accessible to people because ify
stop watching or engaging with the team,
they're not going to want to pay up, right?
And you lose that shared
experience when you all can't
find it at the same place, righ?