It looks like Twins fans will have to start watching games through ESPN in 2026
A new framework agreement between Major League Baseball and ESPN would give the network the exclusive rights to all out-of-market regular-season games digitally and in-market games for five teams, including the Minnesota Twins, for the next three years, according to The Athletic’s Andrew Marchand. The deal is expected to be completed sometime in September.
ESPN launched a new direct-to-consumer product on Thursday that costs $29.99 per month and doesn’t require any additional subscription.
If the deal is completed, Twins fans would likely have to subscribe to ESPN through the new direct-to-consumer product or an operator, and pay an additional fee to watch their favorite team. The other ball clubs that would be under the same circumstances as the Twins are the Cleveland Guardians, San Diego Padres, Colorado Rockies and Arizona Diamondbacks.
This would make watching Twins games more expensive for fans, considering Twins.TV was priced at $99.99 for the whole year and $19.99 per month before the 2025 season began. With the uncertainty clouding the Twins after the trade deadline fire sale and the Pohlads’ decision to retain majority ownership of the club, it feels as if the number of fans who will watch the Twins next year will plummet. If watching the Twins becomes more expensive as expected, the organization must find a way to prove to its fans that it intends to win a World Series in the near future.
ESPN would have MLB.TV as part of its direct-to-consumer product. It’s unknown whether out-of-market subscribers who watch MLB through cable or a different subscription would still be able to consume MLB the same way.
With the agreement, ESPN would continue to broadcast 30-ish regular-season games, just not “Sunday Night Baseball.” The Athletic reported that NBC/Peacock and Apple are the top contenders to be the new home for “Sunday Night Baseball.”
The new deal would join a long list of new changes made to ESPN, as the network recently made four deals with the NFL, giving the network three more NFL games per year, Red Zone access and NFL Network ownership, while the NFL got 10 percent of the network. Additionally, ESPN recently bought the rights to WWE’s top match each month, including WrestleMania.
