Bally Sports North
Type | Regional sports network |
---|---|
Country | United States |
Broadcast area | Minnesota Wisconsin Iowa North Dakota South Dakota |
Network | Bally Sports |
Headquarters | Minneapolis, Minnesota |
Programming | |
Language(s) | English |
Picture format | 720p (HDTV) 480i (SDTV) |
Ownership | |
Owner | Diamond Sports Group |
Parent | Sinclair Broadcast Group & Entertainment Studios Networks |
Sister channels | WUCW |
History | |
Launched | March 1, 1989 |
Replaced | WCCO II |
Former names | Midwest Sports Channel (1989–2001) Fox Sports Net North (2001–2004) FSN North (2004–2008) Fox Sports North (2008–2021) |
Links | |
Website | ballysports |
Availability (some events may air on overflow feed Bally Sports North Extra due to event conflicts) | |
Streaming media | |
Bally Sports app | www.ballysports.com/ (U.S. cable internet subscribers only; requires login from participating providers to stream content; some events may not be available due to league rights restrictions) |
DirecTV Stream | Internet Protocol television |
Bally Sports North is an American regional sports network owned by Diamond Sports Group, and operates as a Bally Sports affiliate. The channel broadcasts coverage of sporting events involving teams located in the Upper Midwest region, with a focus on professional and collegiate sports teams based in Minnesota.
The network maintains production studios and offices located in downtown Minneapolis, which are shared with production and office operations of Bally Sports Wisconsin, which formerly served as a subfeed of Fox Sports North until it was spun off into a separate channel in 2006.
Bally Sports North is available on
History
Origins
The channel originated sometime in 1982 as WCCO II, a local cable channel owned by
MSC's main draws in its early days were games from the
During the North Stars' 1991
The following season the North Stars parted ways with Midwest Sports Channel and instead signed a new contract with
Ownership changes and affiliation with FSN
In 1992, CBS acquired the Midwest Sports Channel, through its purchase of
The following year, the
Shortly after completing its merger with CBS, on June 10, 2000,
In 2000, MSC acquired the television rights to the Minnesota Wild, an NHL expansion team which began play that year; the deal was struck by Fox in May shortly before the lawsuit against Comcast was filed as part of its plans to start a Minnesota-based regional sports network.[10] With the acquisition of the Wild broadcasts, MSC adopted FSN-branded graphics, with announcers frequently using the phrase "...live on MSC, Fox Sports Net style" during its game broadcasts.
This culminated in the channel's official rebranding as Fox Sports Net North in April 2001, coinciding with the start of that year's Minnesota Twins season and the opening of American Family Field (Then named Miller Park) as the home stadium of the Milwaukee Brewers; the new branding was heavily promoted on-air, on billboards and on bus advertisements. One side effect to the rebranding were resulting reductions to the network's budget; Fox also let the contracts to some events expire, forcing the network to depend more on programming from FSN's national schedule (such as the National Sports Report and You Gotta See This!).
In October 2003, Minnesota Twins owner Carl Pohlad attempted to launch a competing regional sports network, to be named Victory Sports One, which would broadcast all Twins games as well as local college and high school sport events. The channel was also expected to carry a number of locally produced sports shows, the centerpiece of which would be Kent Hrbek Outdoors. Victory Sports One launched in November 2003, however the effort folded in May 2004 after six months due to financial and cable carriage issues; after VS1 ceased operations, Fox Sports Net North absorbed most of the channel's programming including the television rights to the Twins. As a result, Fox Sports Net launched a new "local fans first" initiative, launching the daily regional news program Minnesota Sports Report and adding regular broadcasts of high school sport events.
In April 2006, still lacking a local news program after CBS Sold the channel (the now-defunct Minnesota Sports Report originated from FSN West and FSN West 2's studios in Downtown Los Angeles), FSN North launched FSN Live, a first-of-its-kind program serving as both a sports news show, and a pre-game and post-game analysis program for the channel's game broadcasts. FSN Live is usually broadcast live and on-location from sports events televised by the channel, though FSN Live originates from the FSN North studios in Minneapolis whenever the focused team is playing on the road. Regardless of the origin of FSN Live, the pregame show usually features a preview of the game from the announcers and a pregame press conference by the head coach or manager. Meanwhile, the postgame show includes an interview with the player of the game, postgame analysis from the announcers and the head coach or manager's postgame press conference.
On April 4, 2007, FSN North spun off its Wisconsin subfeed into FSN Wisconsin (now Bally Sports Wisconsin), a separate channel carrying Milwaukee Brewers and Milwaukee Bucks games as well as other events sourced from its former parent channel. Wild broadcasts are available throughout Wisconsin. In 2009, FSN North rebranded as Fox Sports North as part of a network-wide rebranding of the Fox Sports regional networks.
On December 14, 2017, as part of a merger between both companies,
In the spring of 2021, Bally Sports North aired five Timberwolves games on WUCW, branded as "Bally Sports North Extra". This was the first time since the WFTC deal that any broadcaster regionally aired Timberwolves games over-the-air.[15]
In the spring of 2022, Bally Sports North aired two Twins games and a Wild game on WUCW.
Bankruptcy
On February 15, 2023, Diamond Sports Group, the owner of Bally Sports Great Lakes, failed to make a $140 million interest payment, instead opting for a 30-day grace period to make the payment.[16] On March 14, 2023, Diamond Sports Group filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.[17]
During its bankruptcy, Diamond missed a payment to the Minnesota Twins.[18] On April 5, 2023, Major League Baseball, on behalf of the Twins, filed an emergency motion asking the bankruptcy judge to order Diamond to pay the Twins fully or give its media rights back to the MLB. Diamond argued that because of cord-cutting the contract rate for the media rights of the teams was too high. A hearing on the matter was set for May 31, 2023.[19] As an interim, on April 19, the bankruptcy judge ordered Diamond Sports to pay 50% of what the Twins were owed.[20] On June 1, 2023, after a two day long hearing, the bankruptcy judge ordered Diamond to pay the Twins fully within five days.[21]
Programming
Bally Sports North holds the exclusive regional cable television rights to
Bally Sports North also distributes some of its programming to Bally Sports Wisconsin, including a reduced schedule of Minnesota Wild games and competitions sanctioned by the Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association (WIAA). Due to blackout restrictions imposed by Major League Baseball and the NBA, Bally Sports North is not permitted to broadcast Milwaukee Brewers and Milwaukee Bucks games televised by Bally Sports Wisconsin.
Other Programming
Fox Sports North also aired outdoor programming under the FSN Outdoors banner. This included fishing and hunting action. Also included is a portion of the national schedule which includes the World Poker Tour as well as repeats of earlier national events on other Fox Sports branded channels.
Bally Sports North Extra
Bally Sports North operates Bally Sports North Extra as a 24-hour full-time HD channel that is used to carry additional programming including overflow live sports programming. Most providers carry the channel full-time, though some opt to carry it as a game-time only channel.[23] Beginning in April 2021, Bally Sports North has been using Sinclair-owned WUCW as a third overflow channel to accommodate several dates when all three professional sports teams are scheduled to play at the same time. These broadcasts are branded as Bally Sports Extra on The CW Twin Cities. For subscribers in the team's territories unable to access WUCW, these games will be offered on the Bally Sports app.[24]
Former Programming
Bally Sports North previously had the right to the
On-air staff
Current
Minnesota Timberwolves
- Michael Grady – play-by-play announcer
- Jim Petersen – analyst
- Katie Storm – courtside reporter
- Marney Gellner – pregame/postgame host
- Rebekkah Brunson – pregame/postgame analyst
- Quincy Lewis – pregame/postgame analyst
- Kevin Lynch – pregame/postgame analyst
Minnesota Twins
- Cory Provus – play-by-play announcer
- Chris Vosters – fill-in play-by-play announcer
- Justin Morneau – analyst
- Jack Morris – analyst
- LaTroy Hawkins – analyst
- Anthony LaPanta – pregame/postgame host & fill-in play-by-play announcer
- Roy Smalley– pregame/postgame analyst
- Glen Perkins – pregame/postgame analyst
- Marney Gellner – on-field reporter
- Audra Martin – on-field reporter
- Katie Storm -- studio host
- Tim Laudner -- studio analyst
Minnesota Wild
- Anthony LaPanta – play-by-play announcer
- Ryan Carter – analyst
- Kevin Gorg – studio/rinkside analyst
- Wes Walz – studio analyst
- Tom Chorske – studio analyst
- Audra Martin – studio host
Minnesota Lynx
- Marney Gellner – Play-by-Play announcer
- Lea B Olson – analyst
Minnesota Vikings
(Preseason only)
- Paul Allen – play-by-play
- Pete Bercich – analyst
- Ben Leber – sideline reporter
Iowa Wild
- Joe O'Donnell – play-by-play
Other
- Ann Carroll – host/reporter
Former
- Dick Bremer – Twins play-by-play announcer
- Tom Hanneman – studio host (deceased)
- Bert Blyleven – Twins analyst
- NHL Network)
- Greg Coleman – Vikings sideline reporter (retired)
- Dave Benz – Timberwolves play-by-play announcer
- Callum Williams – Minnesota United play-by-play (now at Apple TV)
- Kyndra de St. Aubin – Minnesota United analyst (now at Apple TV)
- Charlie Beattie – Minnesota United sideline reporter/analyst
- Doug McLeod – University of Minnesota Hockey play-by-play announcer
- Ben Clymer – University of Minnesota Hockey analyst
References
- ^ "Making the name fit the business" (PDF). Broadcasting. January 3, 1983. Retrieved 7 April 2021.
- ^ "Major League Baseball team by team" (PDF). Broadcasting. March 6, 1989. Retrieved 7 April 2021.
- ISBN 978-1-933599-40-3. Retrieved 29 December 2017.
- ^ "Hartford Courant from Hartford, Connecticut on May 24, 1991, p. 179". Hartford Courant. Newspapers.com. May 24, 1991. Retrieved 2 April 2021.
- ^ "Star Tribune from Minneapolis, Minnesota on October 4, 1991, p. 29". Star Tribune. Newspapers.com. October 4, 1991. Retrieved 2 April 2021.
- ^ Judd Zulgad (May 12, 2000). "Broadcast Sports; Local teams could be interested in buying MSC". Star Tribune. The Star Tribune Company. Archived from the original on September 24, 2015. Retrieved April 7, 2015.
- ^ Judd Zulgad (July 12, 2000). "Comcast agrees to buy MSC; Announced deal appears to be a setback for Fox Sports Net". Star Tribune. The Star Tribune Company. Archived from the original on September 24, 2015. Retrieved April 7, 2015.
- ^ Linda Moss; R. Thomas Umstead (July 24, 2000). "Fox Sports Net Suing to Block HTS Sell-Off. (Home Team Sports)". Multichannel News. Cathers Business Information. Archived from the original on September 24, 2015. Retrieved April 7, 2015.
- ^ Judd Zulgad (September 8, 2000). "Broadcast Sports; Fox Sports' agreement to acquire MSC now final". Star Tribune. The Star Tribune Company. Archived from the original on September 24, 2015. Retrieved April 7, 2015.
- ^ Judd Zulgad (July 28, 2000). "Broadcast Sports; Fox Sports Net plans regional network in state". Star Tribune. The Star Tribune Company. Archived from the original on April 9, 2016. Retrieved April 7, 2015.
- ^ Littleton, Cynthia (3 May 2019). "Sinclair Clinches Disney-Regional Sports Networks Deal, Byron Allen Joins as Partner". Variety. Retrieved 2019-05-05.
- ^ "Sinclair completes acquisition of regional sports networks from Disney". Bloomberg. 22 August 2019. Retrieved 23 August 2019.
- ^ Novy-Williams, Eben (2020-11-19). "Bally's Buys Sinclair RSN Naming Rights As Part of Sports Betting Push". Sportico.com. Retrieved 2021-03-31.
- ^ "Bally Sports, Coming March 31". YouTube (Fox Sports Midwest). March 17, 2021. Archived from the original on 2021-12-13. Retrieved March 17, 2021.
- ^ "Bally Sports North: Tripleheader plans, channel assignments for spring sports". 26 March 2021.
- Sports Business Journal. Leaders Group. Retrieved 15 February 2023.
- ^ Hayes, Dade (2023-03-15). "Diamond Sports Group, Owner Of Bally Networks Once Run By Fox, Files For Chapter 11 Bankruptcy". Deadline. Retrieved 2023-05-05.
- Sports Business Journal. Leaders Group. Retrieved April 3, 2023.
- New York Times. Retrieved April 18, 2023.
- ^ McCann, Michael; Crupi, Anthony (April 20, 2023). "Diamond RSNs Must Pay 50% To 4 MLB Teams In Bankruptcy Case, For Now". Sportico. Penske Media Corporation. Retrieved April 20, 2023.
- ^ Gonzalez, Aiden (June 1, 2023). "Diamond Sports Group ordered to fully pay MLB teams' contracts". ESPN. Walt Disney Corporation. Retrieved June 3, 2023.
- ^ "FS-North, Twins announce TV schedule". Fox Sports North. February 16, 2011.
- ^ "FOX Sports North PLUS Channel Information". FOX Sports. 12 January 2014. Retrieved 28 March 2021.
- ^ "Bally Sports North: Tripleheader plans, channel assignments for spring sports". Fox Sports. FOX Sports North. 26 March 2021. Retrieved 28 March 2021.
- ^ "Gopher Sports: Men's Hockey TV Broadcast Schedule Announced". Gopher Sports. 5 October 2023. Retrieved 29 October 2023.