What if they threw a cable network and nobody came? That’s the problem going on in Minnesota with the Twins’ new Victory Sports One network, envisioned as a huge new revenue stream for the ever-cash-starved team. But, in a situation mirroring New York’s never-ending Yankees/Cablevision debacle, the team has been unable to come to terms with any of Minnesota’s major cable operators on a broadcasting agreement, meaning that the vast majority of the team’s games this year will not be seen on television by anyone.
Even worse, unlike in the YES/Cablevision dispute, DirecTV customers (and subscribing bars) also won’t receive the games, because the Twins haven’t agreed to terms with them, either. It also doesn’t help that the Twins are demanding twice as much per subscriber as the Yankees did. And you thought the stadium campaign was a disaster…
And worst of all, no cable deal means no local TV revenue. No wonder the Twins can only afford three starting pitchers and no closer.
Posted by Stephen Silver at March 23, 2004 09:36 PM