With many of the streaming options dropping Fox Sports North of late many Minnesota Twins fans like a number of other MLB fans are left in a lurch for a way to watch their favorite teams play ball in a couple of weeks when the 2021 season opens. I am still connected to my Xfinity cable box but I can certainly sympathize with the fans that have no way to watch Twins baseball.
In a recent Star Tribune article Chip Scoggins wrote that “Multiple people familiar with the situation told me local franchises with FSN ties are looking at viewership losses of between one-quarter and one-third of their audience. That’s big, and sobering.”
In that same article Dave St. Peter said he understands frustration of fans who can’t watch the Twins because they don’t have access to FSN. “People want to be able to watch their teams,” St. Peter said. “I don’t think that is an unrealistic or unfair expectation.”
That is all good and fine but what else can Dave St. Peter really say? The bottom line is that the Minnesota Twins like all the other MLB teams are raking in money had over fist from these gigantic TV contracts regardless if anyone is tuned in to their games or not. I understand that advertisers want people watching or they will not buy their products and eventually advertisers will look elsewhere to spend their adverting dollars and MLB TV revenue will drop.
But what if you look at it from another perspective. The Twins are getting their TV money anyway, so is it really a bad thing for them if their fans can’t watch Twins games on FSN? 2021 is probably not a good example because of limited ticket availability due to COVID restrictions but if fans can’t watch games on TV more fans will buy Target Field tickets to attend in person. Those fans are going to eat and drink and spend money on souvenirs at the ball park and that money ends up in the Twins pockets. I am not sure the Twins are losing anything here, it is just the fans getting the short end of the stick here.
Excluding 2020 when no fans attended MLB games, Twins attendance had dropped each year since Target Field opened in 2010 except for 2017 and 2019. So are the Twins really upset with the Sinclair/FSN situation? St. Peter said the Twins have had discussions with Sinclair/FSN to express their concern, but the team isn’t involved in negotiations. Publicly the team indicates their concern, behind the scenes, you tell me.
Not sure if it’s clickbait or not. But speculating that it’s not really a bad thing if you can’t watch the twins because they’ll have their money anyway defeats the purpose. Who cares how good the team is if you can’t watch them? My lovely wife has started a petition to put the Twins on OTA. I encourage everyone to sign it. https://www.change.org/p/dave-st-peter-get-the-mn-twins-back-on-broadcast-tv?redirect=false
Youtube TV, Sling TV and Hulu have all had trouble reaching an agreement with Sinclair. Given the viewers they are losing and how that will impact advertising revenue, it’s starting to look as though Sinclair is as short sighted as the MLB owners.
So short sighted to say “We will get our $ anyway” These are kids that are not able to watch them on tv. They are possibly losing lifelong fans who will buy tickets and merch for years. Don’t get me started on the minor league contraction and kids not being able to go watch a baseball game in thier informative years. Baseball owners are so bad at the long game, they only focus on the now.