Diamond Sports Group has officially filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

The Sinclair subsidiary says it will "continue broadcasting games and connecting fans with the sports and teams they love."

DSG provides local television broadcasts for nearly half of NBA, NHL and MLB games. pic.twitter.com/1oDS3ap36P

— Front Office Sports (@FOS) March 15, 2023

How Diamond Sports bankruptcy filing affects Timberwolves and Wild broadcasts

We knew it was coming but the filing will have far-reaching implications, nonetheless. Some teams will feel the impact more than others. For Minnesota sports fans in the local viewing area, there will be little change… for now.

NHL and NBA broadcasts that air and stream on Bally Sports’ platforms will continue as usual for the rest of their 2022-23 seasons, the Timberwolves and Wild included. Not all teams in the MLB can say the same. But what about the Twins?

How filing affects Minnesota Twins broadcasts

If you subscribe to Bally Sports North through Directv, cable or FUBO, you will be able to watch or stream Minnesota Twins games this summer, no problem. But that’s not the case for fans who have enjoyed Timberwolves and Wild games through Bally’s new standalone ($19.99/mo) streaming app, Bally Sports Plus.

Here’s why: Major League Baseball has sold streaming rights to Diamond Sports for just 5 of the 14 teams it holds TV rights to. As of now, the Twins are excluded from that list. In a report Tuesday from ESPN, it’s Diamond Sports’ goal to expand its streaming rights into all 14 of those MLB regions, even as their bankruptcy moves forward.

The goal, a source familiar with the situation said, is for the company to acquire streaming rights for all 14 of its major league teams in order to broadcast games both through a linear cable model and on direct-to-consumer platforms. At the moment, Diamond has rights to stream the games to just five teams. It would have to negotiate the other nine with MLB, but MLB has previously been hesitant to sign off on additional rights for a company that has yet to prove itself financially sustainable.

ESPN

Hope on the horizon for local cord-cutting Twins fans?

So if you are hoping to use Bally’s standalone app to watch the Twins this summer, your chances hinge on Diamond Sports’ efforts to gain streaming rights to the Twins ASAP. On the positive side, the Twins are one of the profitable MLB teams that Bally’s currently holds TV rights for.

That means it’s in Diamond Sports’ best interest to get the Twins on Bally Sports Plus sooner, rather than later. I’d expect a heavy push by Diamond to attain streaming rights to Twins games ASAP, They’ll want to get something done before the Wild and Wolves seasons are over.

Otherwise, Bally Sports Plus would be looking at 6 months without any major Minnesota sports games to stream. If that were to happen, subscriptions would drop in droves around the BSN viewing area.

Through the restructuring process, Diamond is widely expected to shed the contracts of its less-profitable teams. Not being able to acquire direct-to-consumer rights, which was part of the reason it entered into a grace period with the D-backs, will factor into which teams it chooses to hold onto.

ESPN

What happens if Bally Sports drops your team?

If Diamond Sports stops broadcasting games for any teams it owns rights to, the MLB has already promised to immediately get those broadcasts back on the air, through the MLB.tv app (free for local viewers).

For some teams — watch out Diamondbacks — that could happen as soon as this season. The Twins are not expected to be one of those teams, however. Diamond Sports has already paid the Twins for their 2023 broadcasting rights and they seem to be optimistic streaming rights will be acquired soon too.

How local viewers watch Minnesota Twins, Wild and Wolves games beyond the 2023 baseball season is completely up in the air. But for now, Bally Sports North is their TV and streaming home. Until the MLB hands streaming rights over to Diamond Sports, local Twins fans must subscribe to Directv, standard cable or FUBO, if they want to watch their team this summer on TV or via stream.

Eric Strack | Minnesota Sports Fan

Because Twins vs Rays on 6/10 (7:10 PM) is the Friday Night Baseball feature on Apple TV+ and the rights are exclusive. That means our friends at Bally Sports North have the night off. Not an Apple TV+ subscriber and already burned your free trial? No worries, the game is free to anybody with an Apple ID.

We're back on #FridayNightBaseball! Watch live tonight only on @AppleTVPlus

— Tampa Bay Rays (@RaysBaseball) June 10, 2022

Sure… you could, as a non-apple user, break down and get an Apple ID without ever having “one of those” devices, but isn’t that EXACTLY what they want you to do? Think about all of those hilarious GIFs you’ve missed out on because friends and family members exclude you from group text chains. Something to do with the color of your conversation bubbles? Blue or green… who cares.

Now you’re going to throw all of those years of stubborness away for one regular season Minnesota Twins game? That’s a decision only you can make for yourself. If Can’t sellout? Then no Twins game for you. Maybe a movie date. How about a restaurant without televisions? Have fun.

How to Watch (via MLB.com):

Friday night’s opener between the Rays and Twins will air exclusively on Apple TV+. It will not be available on your local cable provider or MLB.TV.

No subscription is needed to watch “Friday Night Baseball” on Apple TV+. To access “Friday Night Baseball” games, just follow these steps:

Launch the Apple TV app and select the game directly from there,

OR

From the MLB.TV app, tap on Apple TV+ Game to be redirected to the Apple TV app (where available),

OR

Visit https://tv.apple.com/ and log in with or create an Apple ID.

UPDATE:

Here is the tweet from Gopher Basketball, with the link to the live stream:

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Here is the link to watch tonight’s game from Rome:https://t.co/WFTvPOI0Cb#GophersInItaly

— Minnesota Men's Basketball (@GopherMBB) August 6, 2019

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Just when you think you’re going to have another normal and boring Tuesday afternoon in August, something extraordinary happens, and now you’ll be watching a Gopher MBB exhibition game LIVE from Rome, at your desk come 11:30 AM. 

Whatta world…

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Great news #Gophers fans! Today's game against Stella Azzurra Academy will be live streamed for free. We will post the link shortly before game time. #GophersInItaly

— Minnesota Men's Basketball (@GopherMBB) August 6, 2019

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We don’t know what service the game will be streamed on yet…. but I will post that link as soon as it becomes available. 

11:30 on a Tuesday in July… and we get live Gopher basketball. This is a completely different than we saw a year agoo, so it’s a great opportunity to see some of the new faces, for the first time. Pitino gave a great breakdown of his new team and roster last week and I blogged about his blog, if you want to get ready for 11:30.

Eric Strack | Minnesota Sports Fan

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