The Twins have “significant concerns” but don’t anticipate any disruptions to their 2023 television schedule, team president and CEO Dave St. Peter said days after Bloomberg reported that Diamond Sports Group LLC, which operates as Bally Sports, said the potential. loss.
Diamond, which is owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group, “could skip $140 million in interest payments due in mid-February,” Bloomberg reported, putting it on the verge of bankruptcy.
“I have every reason to believe that our games will be broadcast on Boli Sports North in 2023 as planned,” St Peter’s said on Friday. “This is what we expect. This is my belief.
We’ve had a lot of discussions with all the bally clubs in major league production, and we’ve been assured that the production of our games, the distribution of our games, those things are not at risk. . But obviously we’re keeping a close eye on things.”
As for beyond 2023, St. Peter said the Twins are currently “in exclusive discussions” with BallySports about the future of Twins baseball after the 2023 season.
“You know, I’m still hopeful. But you know, at the end of the day I guess all options are on the table,” St. Peter said. “The most important thing for us is access. We need to make sure our product is as widely accessible as possible. That’s our goal. And we want to make sure we deliver as quickly as possible.”
Fans of the cord-cutting twins expressed frustration after a deal between Hulu + Live TV and YouTube TV to carry Bally Sports’ regional sports networks in 2020 ended, with Bally Sports+ launching its own streaming service at the expense of last year. $19.99 per month. But as of Friday, St. Peter’s said, 2023 Twins games will not be available for streaming on that service.
“We all recognize the need to expand the reach of our products beyond traditional cable and satellite but through a direct-to-consumer or streaming platform. We’re spending a lot of time on that. Major League Baseball is spending a lot of time on it, and I hope we’ll be able to reverse that soon.”
The Twins’ brand refresh, introduced in November, comes with several adjustments — thousands, to be more precise — to Target Field. Around the ballpark, 4,500 signs with the old logo must be replaced, St. Peters said.
The Twins are installing a new scoreboard as part of a $30 million project in left field that is 75% larger than the one they had last season. Once completed, St. Peter’s said it would be the sixth-largest in the elite.
On Friday, the twins also unveiled new designs for a sign in center field in honor of Minnie and Paul. Now “Win! Twins! Instead of the “twins” script previously described on the sign. The LED lighting will be customizable, and the handshake between the Mini and Pole will now be mechanical.
Additionally, the Twins are installing a baseball medal that lights up and rotates around the TC logo at the top of the right field tower.
St. Peter’s said the Twins plan to introduce two new ticket packages in the coming weeks. One will be an all-inclusive food and beverage season ticket package with seats in left field. … St. Peter also said the Twins will top last season’s attendance numbers and expect to sell north of two million tickets this season.
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