Now, and the Twins have a very well-produced streaming product on Twins TV. It was available for $99 at the beginning of the season, and the price has dropped since (as has the quality of the product).

Major League Baseball continues to try and figure out a path forward. That includes expansion, realignment, and ultimately production. New discussions between the league and ESPN could shake up Minnesota even further.

ESPN coming for MLB, Minnesota Twins

Major League Baseball and ESPN have been working through a muddy separation for a while now. The sides have also been trying to create a new path forward. The Athletic’s Andrew Marchand provided an update on Thursday.

Major League Baseball and ESPN have a framework agreement that would give the network the exclusive rights to sell all out-of-market regular-season games digitally and in-market games for five clubs over the next three years, sources briefed on the discussions told The Athletic.

ESPN would continue to broadcast around 30 regular-season games, but not “Sunday Night Baseball.” ESPN would move to a different night during the week. The games on the network would remain exclusive, meaning viewers would only be able to watch these matchups through ESPN. The agreement would begin next season.

Under the framework of an agreement between MLB and ESPN, ESPN would have MLB.TV as part of its direct-to-consumer offering. It is not fully clear yet if out-of-market subscribers who pay for the package through cable or other linear subscription would still be able to receive MLB.TV that way.

For digital consumers, fans are likely to need an ESPN direct-to-consumer subscription to go along with MLB.TV. The overall new pricing for MLB.TV is not yet decided, but is expected to be similar or slightly cheaper than the current $29.99 per month rate.

If the deal is signed, ESPN will have the full rights to in- and out-of-market games for five teams. The Cleveland Guardians, San Diego Padres, Minnesota Twins, Arizona Diamondbacks and Colorado Rockies are the clubs under MLB control. Fans would likely need to subscribe to ESPN either directly or through an operator, and then, for an added price, they would be able to receive their local teams’ games.

The Athletic

Alright, deep breath, that’s a lot. It appears that this shift would put an end to the idea of TwinsTV. Instead, you will presumably need the ESPN direct-to-consumer product ($29.99/month) as well as a subscription to MLB.TV. With the partnership having a baseball focus, there will be pricing structure changes to MLB.TV as well.

What this does sound like is that fans will be asked to pay MORE than they currently are. TwinsTV is offered at $19.99/month, and initially cost $99.99 for the season (with bundle options as well). This suggests fans will need to pay something of that freight, as well as the $29.99/month for the ESPN service.

Assuming something like an all-in cost of $45/month, fans are looking at a price of $360 for eight months of Minnesota Twins baseball. That’s more than triple the cost of what TwinsTV has run fans in year one.

Baseball’s regional network model has been a failing business for years and it’s why the Twins decided to “right-size” their payroll, while struggling to figure out better options in 2024. ESPN isn’t getting involved to let anything fail, and fans probably aren’t going to have a choice.

Related: Pohlads Avoided Sale of MN Twins to Have New Investors Pay Off Debt

Ideally, the new partnership will represent an infusion of cash for the Twins. Unfortunately, the Pohlad family is already a revenue sharing recipient and they routinely pocket those checks without increasing payroll. That hasn’t stopped them from offloading debt into the franchise, and they recently announced they couldn’t even complete a sale correctly.

Baseball continues to evolve, and Rob Manfred will need to hope he’s getting this right as his time comes to an end. His term ends January 25, 2029, at which point it is expected he will retire.

But for what it’s worth, for the first time in quite a while, any Minnesota Twins fan with $19.99 per month to spare can watch games, including those in the midwest who have been boxed out from TV broadcasts for years due to blackout restrictions affecting enormous chunks of Twins Territory.

Twins.TV launch has gone… pretty well

2025 is the first season of Twins.TV, which launched (poorly) on Opening Day. Thankfully, the MLB quickly worked out the kinks and games have mostly operated without blunder so far. The newly available streaming service can be purchased directly through the MLB app or Twins.TV on your browser, for those who want to stream it that way.

Major League Baseball, which owns and operates the new service, has also reached agreements with multiple large cable, satellite and all-inclusive streaming providers, to offer in one or more of their channel package options for subscribers.

But for months now, the Minnesota Twins have teased a package of games during the 2025 regular season that will be broadcast free to anyone with an old-school TV antenna or an internet connection. That’s right, there are still some channels you can get for free, How? Well, via old-school “over-the-air” local broadcast TV, of course.

It’s true, you can still connect to multiple TV channels using only an antenna. Yup, the old school rabbit ears antenna. You can also purchase newer models that connect via HDMI at Walmart for cheap (and no subscription).

Related: Reported Twins Buyer Hasn’t Backed Out Yet

With over-the-air antenna, you can now get HD picture for channels 2 (PBS), 4 (CBS), 5 (ABC), 9 (FOX) and 11 (NBC) with an old school TV antenna. The stuff your ancestors used to watch television. Many of these channels are also offered free via live stream, whether via their own apps and websites or other free streaming platforms that rely on an ad-revenue only business model, as opposed to needing paid subscriptions.

10-game Minnesota Twins package coming to local TV

It’s taken a bit longer for the Minnesota Twins to finish off negotiations with the local TV stations. But on Tuesday, they announced the exclusive winner of the over-air Twins contract sweepstakes. FOX9, which will carry 10 total games this summer, every Tuesday starting April 15 (two weeks from today).

Minnesota Twins, Fox 9 and Gray Media announce 10-game, free over-the-air television package. pic.twitter.com/gedBFXO4ac

— Minnesota Twins (@Twins) April 1, 2025

The first game is against the New York Mets. That’s a notable contest as talented outfielder Juan Soto signed a $765 million contract with them this offseason.

There are three divisional matchups as part of the package. Minnesota will play the Chicago White Sox on both April 22nd and September 2nd. May 20 is a tilt against the Cleveland Guardians. The rest of the schedule is really good too, and includes matchups vs the Chicago Cubs, Boston Red Sox, and New York Yankees.

Aside from the Yankees game, each matchup has a 6:40 pm start time. They all feature pregame shows to kick off at 6 pm. How that will work for the New York game, which is scheduled to start at 6:05 pm, remains to be seen.

Free broadcasts a positive for MN Twins fans

For a franchise looking to generate good will with it’s fanbase, this is a nice offering. Fans unwilling to drop the necessary coin for the new TwinsTV packages can give the production a test run for free. With the first offering coming just two weeks from today, Minnesota can premier the product and hope to earn additional subscribers.

Of course in order to generate significant fan interest, Rocco Baldelli and his team will need to start winning. They open the home slate at Target Field on Thursday April 3 at 3:10 pm against the Houston Astros.

Related: Full Minnesota Twins TV Channel Lineup and Providers List

Minnesota has two more games this week against the Chicago White Sox. Last season they went 12-1 with a +40 run differential against the Pale Hose. Starting with a 9-0 drubbing wasn’t a good look, but the expected worst team in baseball still represents a potential get-right opportunity.

The Twins need fans to tune into their action. A lackluster sale process and poor product can’t be part of the equation. On field production must be the draw to make any of the television undertakings matter.

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.

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.

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.

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

Minnesota Twins promise more TV partners by Opening Day

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

UPDATE: The Minnesota Twins did strike a deal with most cable/satellite providers to carry Twins TV. Check if your provider is included HERE.

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.

Related: New Twins Channel Debut Revealed Along with Broadcast Enhancements

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).

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 Twins 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.

• Twins.TV is a streaming service. If you pay for cable, you DO NOT need 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.
• If you are a T-Mobile subscriber and get the free MLBtv package through your phone service, you DO NOT have 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.
• If you do not live in market, (see image) you DO NOT need Twins.TV.
  • MLB.TV (MLB App) will provide access, without blackouts, to Twins broadcasts out of market as it always has.

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.

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.