Twins TV picture remains blurry after 'surprise' agreement between Amazon, Diamond Sports

For more than a month, the Twins, Timberwolves and Wild have operated on the assumption that Bally Sports North will go out of business after their 2024 seasons, and that they would have to find new partners to broadcast their games.

On Wednesday, BSN's plans abruptly changed. We'll soon find out whether Minnesota's pro sports teams' do, too.

Diamond Sports Group, parent company of 19 regional sports networks operating under the Bally Sports umbrella, shocked the 37 teams it broadcasts by announcing that it has acquired nearly a half-billion dollars of new investment — including more than $100 million from Amazon, which hopes to stream games on its Amazon Prime service — and intends to survive bankruptcy and remain in business for years to come.

"Today is obviously a milestone day for the company," Scott Alberino, an attorney representing the companies that Diamond owes hundreds of millions of dollars to, said in a federal bankruptcy court hearing in Houston on Wednesday. "We recognize there is a lot of good news to be heard here today."

But Wednesday was also the first time the three sports leagues had heard of Diamond's reorganization plan, which still must be approved by the federal bankruptcy court and the team's many creditors.

"All this came as a surprise," MLB attorney Jim Bromley told bankruptcy judge Christopher Lopez. "We knew nothing about it."

Still, the sudden reversal could come as a relief for winter sports teams such as the Wolves and Wild, who agreed late last year to terminate their multiyear agreements with BSN at the end of the season. Amazon's partnership with Diamond means Prime customers may soon be able to stream dozens of NHL and NBA games, removing the uncertain distribution options both leagues faced.

The Twins' fate is trickier, given that their 12-year contract with Diamond expired in October. (Diamond still has contracts with 11 other MLB teams.) The team had entered into negotiations to remain on BSN for one more season, almost certainly for far less than the $54 million the network paid the Twins last year, but no deal had been struck.

The Twins were also considering allowing MLB to take over its broadcasts, which would allow the league to stream games on its MLB.TV app.

Diamond's bankruptcy attorney, Andrew Goldman, made it clear in court, however, that the company would like to keep broadcasting Twins games, along with those of the Rangers and Guardians, whose contracts they tried to terminate last year. He gave the teams until Feb. 1 to commit.

"We're not looking to fight with them at all," Goldman said. "If they want to go in a different direction, that's fine, too. They need to let us know by Feb. 1 so we and they can plan accordingly. … If any of the three want to engage in discussions on longer-term agreements," the network is eager to do so.

The Twins, presumably as blindsided by the news as MLB, had no comment on Wednesday's developments. The team has admitted it is cutting its payroll for the 2024 season in anticipation of a steep cut in its television revenue. It remains to be seen whether the Twins are willing to re-up with Bally Sports North — which will be renamed a year from now when Diamond finds a new naming-rights partner for its networks.

MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred signaled in December that he was interested in negotiating a contract with Amazon to stream baseball games, independent of Diamond, so it's uncertain how the league will respond to the entities' new partnership. Only five MLB teams have thus far sold streaming rights to Diamond, but it's likely several more could be interested if the package is carried by Prime Video.