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MN Twins Promise TV Access to Games by First Pitch
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- MN Twins Promise TV Access to Games by First Pitch
Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images
It's the eve of Opening Day for the 2025 Minnesota Twins regular season. After finishing up Grapefruit League play 13-15-3 , the team is will arrive in St. Louis Wednesday ready to face a familiar face , in the form of right-handed pitcher Sonny Gray .
This season, Minnesota Twins fans will watch their favorite baseball team in a different way than ever before. The debacle that was Bally Sports North is no more . Now, those watching gameday Twins broadcasts will do so on a new offering called Twins.TV , which will make games more widely accessible to fans in the local Twin Cities viewing market than ever before.
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No longer do you need a TV subscription to a select few cable/satellite/streaming providers. If you have $19.99 to spare per month, you can subscribe to watch Minnesota Twins games through Twins.TV on the MLB App, which is available on all smart TVs and smartphones.
Credit: Photo: Audra_Martin – Twitter
But of course, that doesn't mean this transition will be smooth. While the games will be streamable, a service that has been in place since the start of spring training, Major League Baseball is yet to strike a deal with major cable/satellite providers like Comcast (Xfinity), Charter (Spectrum), DirecTV, Dish Network, YouTube TV and Fubo TV, which has made fans nervous.
Minnesota Twins promise more TV partners by Opening Day
All along, it's been all but promised that Twins games will be available on all of those major service providers. Well, with 24 hours remaining until first pitch on Opening Day… those deals are yet to be reached
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Don't worry, say the Twins. According to Dan Hayes (The Athletic) , among other local Twins insiders who have reported the same thing recently, the team is pretty much promising them behind the scenes that there will be a live Twins.TV channel available on all of those major platforms by 1 PM CDT on Thursday, when first pitch is scheduled between the Twins and Cards.
As they've suggested in private, #MNTwins expect #MLB to reach accord w/ local cable providers by tonight to broadcast games. MLB landed deals w/ cable for Ariz, SD and Col day before the 2024 opener. So far, 21 area providers have a Twins deal in place.
And yes fans, it stinks.— DanHayesMLB (@DanHayesMLB) March 26, 2025
The current Twins.TV Broadcast faq (as of Wednesday at 12:00 pm CT) has 21 cable providers listed as carrying a Twins.TV channel. As The Athletic's Dan Hayes points out, Major League Baseball waited until the final day prior to the 2024 regular season to announce deals with teams in Minnesota's spot last season. SKOR North's Judd Zulgad is reporting that an announcement is expected at some point today.
The Minnesota Twins are also expected to have a weekly game (Tuesday) that will be broadcast over the air on one of four local channels. ABC is reportedly out of the running. The other options are KARE (NBC),KMSP (FOX) and WCCO (CBS).
Related: New Twins Channel Debut Revealed Along with Broadcast Enhancements
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Once the announcements are made official, then fans can flick on their television guides to figure out what specific channel Minnesota baseball games will be on. The channel will be dark every day, until just prior to first pitch and just after each contest ends. Home games will have a postgame show, but road games will not.
Do you need Twins.TV in order to watch Minnesota baseball in 2025?
While it's not entirely the Twins' fault that cable distribution hasn't been sorted out, their communication of a new product has been shoddy at best. Fans bring questions daily asking how the new product will work. There are a few key foundational principles to be aware of regarding Twins.TV.
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Twins.TV is a streaming service. If you pay for cable, you DO NOTneed Twins.TV. A channel will be made available as part of a premium subscription package. If your channel lineup includes FanDuel Sports Network (formerly Bally's) you will have access.
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If you are a T-Mobile subscriber and get the free MLBtv package through your phone service, you DO NOThave access to blackout free Twins games in market. MLBtv is a national service. Twins.TV is a regional product designed for those in market. Twins.TV is offered at $19/month or $99/year. It can be purchased as a bundle with MLBtv for $199/year.
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If you do not live in market, (see image) you DO NOTneed Twins.TV.
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MLB.TV (MLB App) will provide access, without blackouts, to Twins broadcasts out of market as it always has.
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Credit: Minnesota Twins
The fallout in moving away from the regional sports network model means the Twins take a hit on a significant revenue stream. The hope would be that they can generate fan interest based on a more accessible model, and that will result in streaming subscriptions.
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Related: MLB Insider Predicts a Royce Lewis Trade for MN Twins
Of course the greatest way to generate that interest would be in winning, and moving on from an ownership group that has diluted the product . There are now a few more hoops for fans to jump through in order to find the game, but there are more fans that have an ability to do so.
