Sports

RandBall: TV uncertainty looms over Timberwolves and Wild

The Twins went through a regional sports transition already. The Wolves and Wild could be next.

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By Michael Rand

The Minnesota Star Tribune
December 23, 2025 at 7:15PM
Timberwolves center Rudy Gobert (27) at Target Center during his team's win over the Milwaukee Bucks on Dec. 21. The Wolves and Wild could go through a regional sports transition soon. (Carlos Gonzalez/The Minnesota Star Tribune)

The same regional sports TV uncertainty that loomed over the Twins before they opted for a new model under MLB’s distribution for the 2025 season is coming to the forefront for the NBA and NHL.

How soon it affects the Timberwolves and Wild, whose local rights are still held by Main Street Sports and whose games are still shown on FanDuel Sports North, remains to be seen.

But a recent Sports Business Journal report indicated the matter could become more urgent very soon.

Per that report, Main Street is trying to close a deal that would make DAZN the primary owner of the FanDuel regional sports networks, which span 29 different organizations across MLB, the NBA and NHL.

But if that deal falls through, it appears likely this would be the last season for the Wolves, Wild and others on FanDuel channels.

NBA teams are also preparing for the possibility that Main Street would cease operations in the middle of the season if it can’t pay teams, a “worst fear,” per one NBA executive quoted, that would send teams scrambling for distribution through the league.

I talked about the potential impact of all this during Tuesday’s Daily Delivery podcast.

Here are some main takeaways to start today’s 10 things to know:

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  • Assuming the NBA and NHL can avoid the doomsday scenario of a midyear collapse of their TV rights, the leagues could come out of this in good shape. The NBA has been talking for years about bundling local rights onto one platform, and this could provide the timing for that to come to fruition.
    • MLB has similar aspirations, and the Twins are counting on it to eventually boost their revenue. But in the short term, the transition hits MLB teams harder. It was estimated in 2024 that MLB teams on average get 23% of their revenue from local media (TV), roughly twice as much as the share for NHL and NBA teams.
      • The SBJ article reported the Wolves are getting $24.9 million from their local TV deal this year.
        • The Twins as recently as 2023 received close to $55 million in local TV rights from what is now FanDuel. They took a reduced rate in 2024 and then had dramatically reduced revenue with distribution through MLB in 2025. That decline contributed to the Twins’ debt, which contributed to payroll decisions, which contributed to the on-field product in 2024 and 2025, which led us to the recent announcement of additional limited partners and a change in Pohlad leadership.
          • All of this is part of a greater evolution in how we watch games. The bundles MLB and the NBA hope to create in the future almost certainly will be shown through a streaming platform like Prime Video. National rights deals have already been carved up to include similar platforms; just look at the three NFL games set to air on Christmas: two on Netflix, one on Prime Video (though Lions vs. Vikings will also be shown over the air on Ch. 4 locally). Emailer Joe worries about viewers who don’t have access to those pay services: “Has the NFL decided that $$ is more important than family togetherness?” he asks. Yes, Joe, I would say that is the case.
            • Case in point: The NFL wants an 18-game schedule even though the quality of play keeps diminishing as the schedule gets crowded. Chip Scoggins wrote about that phenomenon in the context of the Vikings-Giants game.
              • Tuesday’s podcast also featured plenty of Vikings talk, including a film review from Sunday’s game with Andrew Krammer.
                • Wednesday’s show will feature Randy Johnson talking Gophers football with some world junior hockey mixed in.
                  • Philip Rivers gave the Colts all he had while keeping them in Monday night’s game against the 49ers. It’s too bad for Indianapolis that Rivers can’t play defense and couldn’t stop five Brock Purdy touchdown passes.
                    • Looking for a great rink to watch a high school hockey game? We have you covered.
                      about the writer

                      about the writer

                      Michael Rand

                      Columnist / Reporter

                      Michael Rand is the Minnesota Star Tribune's Digital Sports Senior Writer and host/creator of the Daily Delivery podcast. In 25 years covering Minnesota sports at the Minnesota Star Tribune, he has seen just about everything (except, of course, a Vikings Super Bowl).

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