The Athletic’s Andrew Marchand reported Thursday that Major League Baseball and ESPN are close to reaching a deal that would give the Worldwide Leader broadcast rights to five teams, one of which is your Minnesota Twins.
Initial reports were light on details, but the dogged reporting of the Twins Daily I-Team has uncovered intel on pricing, platforms, and more.
How to watch: Obtain ESPN access through your cable provider or satellite, or purchase the standalone ESPN app. Then buy the Twins app through ESPN. Then select your preferred tier:
Basic: It’s just the AM radio broadcast. It doesn’t come in when it’s raining, windy, or overly sunny.
Basic+: Static-free AM radio broadcast.
Premium: Road games only.
Premium+: Home games only. In order to access each broadcast, you have to verbally apologize to a Pohlad for not seeing the game in person. If they deem it genuine, you are allowed to view the game. No refunds.
Silver: Road and home games, broadcast in black and white.
Gold: Road and home games, broadcast in color.
Platinum: Road and home games, broadcast in Coomervision, an experimental technology that emits the scent of whatever the former Twin had for lunch that day. Is that cabbage? No, that’s Coomervision.
Platinum+: The top tier. Road and home games, Coomervision, and a portion of your subscription goes to the Pohlad Family Walking Around Money Fund, which allows the idle children and grandchildren of the Pohlad family to have a little spending cash as they wander the malls of Dubai.
Pricing: Rather than individually pricing each tier, the team is introducing the How Much You Got plan, an innovative program that tallies your monthly disposable income and charges you exactly that much for the tier you choose. For those worried about affordability or emergencies, the team will be offering a high-limit credit card with a 34% APR, in honor of Twins Hall of Famer Kirby Puckett. (In the past, similar cards have paid homage to Rod Carew with a 29% rate, but the family felt it was time to highlight Puckett.)
No date has been set for when these become available to the general public. A team source says they hope to roll them out on Pohlad Appreciation Day, which is replacing the traditional Fan Appreciation Day during the final regular-season homestand to thank the Pohlads for their stewardship of the franchise.
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