Thursday marks the second full day of the broadcasting battle between Diamond Sports Groups and the four Major League Baseball teams, including the Minnesota Twins.
Happening in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Houston, Texas, Twins President Dave St. Peter was called to the stand on Thursday and he confirmed how much money Diamond Sports Group pays the Twins for telecast rights on Bally Sports North, and how recent negotiations between the two sides led to a standoff in the courts.
According to St. Peter, the team’s current contract with Diamond Sports Group was a 12-year deal that ends this year. Diamond is contracted to pay the Twins around $60 million annually.
- $54.8 million for telecast rights
- $1 million for ancillary items
- $1.6 million signing bonus
- $2 million for in-market streaming
The Twins and Diamond had an exclusive negotiating window from March 2022 to April 2023, and during that time Diamond offered the Twins a new deal that would’ve paid them around $54 million-a-year over a five-year deal, according to numbers discussed with St. Peter on the stand. That offer included 1% annual escalators the deal would’ve paid the Twins upwards of $56 million in 2028.
“We subsequently countered to this offer and then received a follow-up from Diamond with a a slight increase from this original offer, and that really concluded the substance of the negotiations,” said St. Peter.
He said the Twins have not engaged in any “substantive” talks with vendors interested in taking control of the telecast rights, but they “expect to do so in the near future.”
“We’ve heard from a number of interested parties who would love to engage with the Twins,” St. Peter explained. “Our ownership felt it was best to see how this proceeding played out.”
U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Chris Lopez has said he’ll make a ruling on the case as soon as closing arguments are made, which could happen later Thursday.
There is a chance that Diamond gives telecast rights back to the Twins, at which point games would be produced and delivered to viewers by Major League Baseball.
Related: Twins games could be on different channels in immediate future
