The Twins caved.

Published on May 7, 2004 By Jamie Burnside In Sports & Leisure

For the past month or two, the Minnesota Twins had been trying to establish their own cable network.

The problem with their own cable network was that none of the major cable and satellite providers were willing to negotiate with the Twins to broadcast the network. In the end, the Twins had to negotiate an eight-year contract with Fox Sports Network to get their games on television.

It seems that the Twins need to choose their battles a little more wisely. They want a new stadium. If they want a new stadium, they will need to establish good will with the (stingy) taxpayers here in Minnesota. Not being on television does really hurt their prospects for getting a stadium.

If they had waited until they had gotten their stadium before forming their network, I am sure that they would have had a lot more success with their network.

Comments

Gene Nash

on May 08, 2004

You know, when I first saw the title I thought this was going to be another one of those "gloating over the threesome of a lifetime" articles.

>>an eight-year contract with Fox Sports Network

8 years?! Eeek. I think they locked themselves in for far too long.

Nancy

on May 10, 2004

I agree that they would be better off had they waited on the network. But I disagree that Minnesota tax payers are stingy. We have very high taxes and I think a lot of people are willing to pay for things like roads/mass transit, education, etc. I just don't think people want to pay for something that the owners and other million/billionnaires should be buying.

Jamie Burnside

on May 10, 2004

See Nancy, we've had this discussion before. I like to pay for things that I can personally enjoy. For maintaining my own quality of life, professional baseball in Minnesota is high on my list.

Also if you're an urban renewal fan, the stadium plans include all of that. There is also an agreement to split the appreciation of the team with the state once the stadium is built. (Of course that would presume that the team would be sold.) The amount of that appreciation would go a long way to cover the loan that the state would give the team anyway.

Welcome Guest! Please take the time to register with us.
There are many great features available to you once you register, including:

Richer content, access to many features that are disabled for guests like commenting on the forums.
Access to a great community, with a massive database of many, many areas of interest.
Access to contests & subscription offers like exclusive emails.
It's simple, and FREE!