Most Twins games to be on cable, satellite only next season

The Minnesota Twins said Wednesday they'll broadcast nearly all of their regular season games on cable and satellite only.

The Twins announced a deal with Fox TV to carry 150 of 162 regular season games on the Fox Sports North network. That means viewers in the Twin Cities without cable or satellite will no longer be able to watch Sunday games on over the air TV.

Last season, the Twins broadcast about 25 games on My29 and KSTC 45.

Twins spokesman Kevin Smith said the move to cable is a longstanding trend in professional sports. He said putting the games on a regional network will make them more available across the Twins' geographically-wide fan base.

"What's most important about this is all these games ensure total distribution to all areas across Twins territory," Smith said. "We're not just a team that telecasts to one local market in one city. We have a five-state region."

Smith said eight Twins games will still be available over the air -- on channel 9 in the metro -- when Fox Sports does national broadcasts.

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