Bally Sports North is an American
regional sports network
In the United States and Canada, a regional sports network (RSN) is a cable television channel (many of which are also distributed on direct broadcast satellite services) that presents sports programming to a local market or geographical region.
...
owned by
Diamond Sports Group
Diamond Sports Group LLC is an American media and entertainment company operating as a subsidiary of Sinclair Broadcast Group, and partnered with Entertainment Studios. The company operates Bally Sports, a group of regional sports channels which ...
, and operates as a
Bally Sports
The Bally Sports Regional Networks are a group of regional sports networks in the United States owned by Diamond Sports Group, a joint-venture company of the Sinclair Broadcast Group and Entertainment Studios. The naming rights to the network we ...
affiliate. The channel broadcasts coverage of sporting events involving teams located in the
Upper Midwest
The Upper Midwest is a region in the northern portion of the U.S. Census Bureau's Midwestern United States. It is largely a sub-region of the Midwest. Although the exact boundaries are not uniformly agreed-upon, the region is defined as referring ...
region, with a focus on professional and collegiate sports teams based in
Minnesota
Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...
.
The network maintains production studios and offices located in downtown
Minneapolis
Minneapolis () is the largest city in Minnesota, United States, and the county seat of Hennepin County. The city is abundant in water, with thirteen lakes, wetlands, the Mississippi River, creeks and waterfalls. Minneapolis has its origins ...
, which are shared with production and office operations of
Bally Sports Wisconsin
Bally Sports Wisconsin (BSWI) is an American regional sports network owned by Diamond Sports Group, and operates as an affiliate of Bally Sports. Operating as the "Wisconsin" sub-feed of Fox Sports North until 2007, the channel was known as Fox ...
, 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
cable
Cable may refer to:
Mechanical
* Nautical cable, an assembly of three or more ropes woven against the weave of the ropes, rendering it virtually waterproof
* Wire rope, a type of rope that consists of several strands of metal wire laid into a hel ...
providers throughout Minnesota, western
Wisconsin
Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...
,
northern Iowa
Iowa () is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wiscon ...
,
North Dakota
North Dakota () is a U.S. state in the Upper Midwest, named after the Native Americans in the United States, indigenous Dakota people, Dakota Sioux. North Dakota is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba to the north a ...
, and
South Dakota
South Dakota (; Sioux language, Sioux: , ) is a U.S. state in the West North Central states, North Central region of the United States. It is also part of the Great Plains. South Dakota is named after the Lakota people, Lakota and Dakota peo ...
; it is available nationwide on
satellite
A satellite or artificial satellite is an object intentionally placed into orbit in outer space. Except for passive satellites, most satellites have an electricity generation system for equipment on board, such as solar panels or radioisotope ...
via
DirecTV
DirecTV (trademarked as DIRECTV) is an American multichannel video programming distributor based in El Segundo, California. Originally launched on June 17, 1994, its primary service is a digital satellite service serving the United States. It ...
.
History
Origins
The channel originated sometime in 1982 as WCCO II, a local cable channel owned by
Midwest Radio and Television
Midwest Communications was a broadcasting company based in the Upper Midwest United States.
The company's history dates back to August 1952, when it was formed as Midwest Radio and Television as a merger of WCCO (AM) and WTCN-TV. The company was ...
(later Midwest Communications), and created as a project by
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainmen ...
affiliate
WCCO-TV
WCCO-TV (channel 4) is a television station licensed to Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States, broadcasting the CBS network to the Twin Cities area. It is owned and operated by the network's CBS News and Stations division, and maintains studios ...
(channel 4, now an
owned-and-operated station
In the broadcasting industry, an owned-and-operated station (frequently abbreviated as an O&O) usually refers to a television or radio station owned by the network with which it is associated. This distinguishes such a station from an affiliate ...
of the network) that broadcast a slate of local and general entertainment programming. On March 1, 1989, it was relaunched as the Midwest Sports Channel. It was also the same year that the network would acquire rights to Twins broadcasts.
MSC's main draws in its early days were games from the
Minnesota Twins
The Minnesota Twins are an American professional baseball team based in Minneapolis. The Twins compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central Division. The team is named after the Twin Cities area w ...
and
Minnesota North Stars
The Minnesota North Stars were a professional ice hockey team in the National Hockey League (NHL) for 26 seasons, from 1967 to 1993. The North Stars played their home games at the Met Center in Bloomington, Minnesota, and the team's colors for ...
. The channel also served as an affiliate of
SportsChannel America
SportsChannel is the collective name for a former group of regional sports networks in the United States that was owned by Cablevision, which from 1988 until the group's demise, operated it as a joint venture with NBC.
Operating from March 1, 1 ...
, filling much of its broadcast day with a mix of national programs and
paid programming
Paid or PAID may refer to:
* ''Paid'' (1930 film), an American film starring Joan Crawford
* ''Paid'' (2006 film), a Dutch film
*''Personality and Individual Differences'', a journal
See also
* Paide, the capital of Järva County, Estonia
* P ...
from the channel, and incorporated
sports news tickers provided by the channel. MSC was largely considered a
premium channel
Pay television, also known as subscription television, premium television or, when referring to an individual service, a premium channel, refers to subscription-based television services, usually provided by multichannel television providers, b ...
until the early 1990s, and did not even have full cable coverage in the
Minneapolis–St. Paul metropolitan area until it was added by
Continental Cablevision
MediaOne Group, Inc. (Comcast MO Group, Inc.) was created by US WEST Inc, one of the original Baby Bells Regional Bell Operating Companies, acquisition of Boston-based Continental Cable and combined with its previously acquired Atlanta-based Wom ...
's St. Paul system on its expanded basic cable lineup in 1994.
During the North Stars' 1991
Stanley Cup Playoff
The season structure of the National Hockey League (NHL) is divided into the pre-season, regular season, and the Stanley Cup playoffs. In the pre-season, which is generally held during the last two weeks of September, each team plays several not-fo ...
run, Midwest Sports Channel declined to exercise an option to carry the North Stars' home games (as the SportsChannel America package which MSC carried did not include rights to in-market home games). Instead the North Stars cut a revenue-sharing deal with a group of 11 cable companies to televise the games as a
pay-per-view
Pay-per-view (PPV) is a type of pay television or webcast service that enables a viewer to pay to watch individual events via private telecast.
Events can be purchased through a multichannel television platform using their electronic program guid ...
events at a then very expensive price of $12.95 a game.
The following season the North Stars parted ways with Midwest Sports Channel and instead signed a new contract with
Prime Sports Midwest
Bally Sports Midwest is an American regional sports network owned by Diamond Sports Group, a joint venture between Sinclair Broadcast Group and Entertainment Studios, and operates as an affiliate of Bally Sports. The channel broadcasts regional ...
to televise 17 games out-of-market while in-market viewers would be offered the games on pay-per-view through the same revenue sharing agreement with local cable operators that was used for the previous season's playoffs. The price for these games were $9.95 each with an option to purchase the entire package at a reduced rate. Additionally, 25 games were televised on
KMSP-TV
KMSP-TV (channel 9) is a television station licensed to Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States, broadcasting the Fox network to the Twin Cities area. It is owned and operated by the network's Fox Television Stations division alongside MyNetwo ...
.
Ownership changes and affiliation with FSN
In 1992, CBS acquired the Midwest Sports Channel, through its purchase of
Midwest Communications
Midwest Communications is a Wausau, Wisconsin-based radio broadcasting company. It owns 82 radio stations located primarily within the Midwest United States, in Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, Tennessee, Illinois and ...
(which it previously had 47% ownership). For the 1992-93 season MSC once again televised some North Stars games, but the channel lost the broadcast rights permanently when the North Stars relocated to
Dallas
Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...
after the end of the season. MSC expanded its lineup of professional sports events in 1995, after it landed a television contract with the
Minnesota Timberwolves
The Minnesota Timberwolves are an American professional basketball team based in Minneapolis. The Timberwolves compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference Northwest Division. Founded in 19 ...
to hold the regional cable rights to the team's games for the 95-96 season.
The following year, the
Wisconsin Sports Network
Wisconsin Sports Network is a school and college sports website in the U.S. state of Wisconsin.
History
The website was created in 2002 by Nicholas Kartos, who was later joined by Rick Hamilton. Wishoops.net launched on November 18, 2002 as a re ...
(a gametime-only network broadcasting
Milwaukee Brewers
The Milwaukee Brewers are an American professional baseball team based in Milwaukee. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League Central, Central division. The Brewers are named for t ...
and
Bucks
Bucks may refer to:
Places
* Buckinghamshire, England, abbreviated Bucks
* Bucks, Alabama, United States, an unincorporated community
* Bucks, Illinois, United States, an unincorporated community
* Bucks, Michigan, an unincorporated community ...
games), which had been owned by
Time Warner Cable
Time Warner Cable, Inc. (TWC) was an American cable television company. Before it was acquired by Charter Communications on May 18, 2016, it was ranked the second largest cable company in the United States by revenue behind only Comcast, operat ...
's Milwaukee franchise and
Group W (whose corporate parent,
Westinghouse, had just merged with CBS), was folded into MSC, giving the network a broader reach throughout the Midwest, in addition to the rights to the Brewers and Bucks contracts, and a sizeable stable of local outdoor programs. In 1997, the Midwest Sports Channel became an affiliate of the recently created
Fox Sports Net
Fox Sports Networks (FSN), formerly known as Fox Sports Net, was the collective name for a group of regional sports channels in the United States. Formed in 1996 by News Corporation, the networks were acquired by The Walt Disney Company on Mar ...
.
Shortly after completing its merger with CBS, on June 10, 2000,
Viacom Viacom, an abbreviation of Video and Audio Communications, may refer to:
* Viacom (1952–2006), a former American media conglomerate
* Viacom (2005–2019), a former company spun off from the original Viacom
* Viacom18, a joint venture between Par ...
announced that it would sell the Midwest Sports Channel and
Baltimore
Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...
-based regional sports network Home Team Sports. On July 11, 2000,
Comcast
Comcast Corporation (formerly known as American Cable Systems and Comcast Holdings),Before the AT&T merger in 2001, the parent company was Comcast Holdings Corporation. Comcast Holdings Corporation now refers to a subsidiary of Comcast Corpora ...
acquired the Midwest Sports Channel from CBS.
News Corporation
News Corporation (abbreviated News Corp.), also variously known as News Corporation Limited, was an American multinational mass media corporation controlled by media mogul Rupert Murdoch and headquartered at 1211 Avenue of the Americas in Ne ...
, which was a minority owner in the network and wanted to acquire the channel outright, attempted to block the deal,(as it would have been reworked into a
Comcast SportsNet
NBC Sports Regional Networks is the collective name for a group of regional sports networks in the United States that are primarily owned and operated by the NBCUniversal division of the cable television company Comcast. The networks were origina ...
), filing a lawsuit on July 21 to stop the sale of MSC and Home Team Sports. On September 7, 2000, as part of a settlement between the two companies, Comcast traded its equity interest in Midwest Sports Channel to News Corporation in exchange for exclusive ownership of Home Team Sports (which subsequently joined
Comcast SportsNet
NBC Sports Regional Networks is the collective name for a group of regional sports networks in the United States that are primarily owned and operated by the NBCUniversal division of the cable television company Comcast. The networks were origina ...
as
Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic). Through its existing content agreement with the channel, WCCO continued to broadcast a replay of its 10:00 p.m. newscast daily at 4:30 a.m. as an encore until the sale to Fox was finalized.
In 2000, MSC acquired the television rights to the
Minnesota Wild
The Minnesota Wild are a professional ice hockey team based in Saint Paul, Minnesota. The Wild competes in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division in the Western Conference and play their home games at the Xcel Ener ...
, an
NHL
The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...
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. 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
American Family Field is a retractable roof stadium used primarily for baseball. It is located in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, just southwest of the intersection of Interstate 94 and Brewers Boulevard. It is the home of Major League Baseball's Milwauk ...
(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
The ''National Sports Report'' is a newscast, sportscast that aired on United States television channel Fox Sports Net.
Brief history
The program premiered on November 1, 1996 in television, 1996, when FSN was launched, as ''Fox Sports News''. T ...
'' and ''You Gotta See This!'').
In October 2003, Minnesota Twins owner
Carl Pohlad
Carl Ray Pohlad (August 23, 1915 – January 5, 2009) was an American financier from Minnesota. Pohlad is best known as the owner of the Minnesota Twins baseball franchise from 1984 (succeeding Calvin Griffith) until his death in 2009.
In 2 ...
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
Kent Alan Hrbek (; born May 21, 1960), nicknamed "Herbie", is a former American Major League Baseball first baseman. He played his entire 14-year baseball career with the Minnesota Twins (1981–1994). Hrbek batted left-handed and threw right-hand ...
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
Downtown Los Angeles (DTLA) contains the central business district of Los Angeles. In addition, it contains a diverse residential area of some 85,000 people, and covers . A 2013 study found that the district is home to over 500,000 jobs. It is ...
), 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
Bally Sports Wisconsin (BSWI) is an American regional sports network owned by Diamond Sports Group, and operates as an affiliate of Bally Sports. Operating as the "Wisconsin" sub-feed of Fox Sports North until 2007, the channel was known as Fox ...
), a separate channel carrying
Milwaukee Brewers
The Milwaukee Brewers are an American professional baseball team based in Milwaukee. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League Central, Central division. The Brewers are named for t ...
and
Milwaukee Bucks
The Milwaukee Bucks are an American professional basketball team based in Milwaukee. The Bucks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Central Division. The team was founded in 1968 ...
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,
The Walt Disney Company
The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...
announced plans to acquire all 22 regional Fox Sports networks from
21st Century Fox
Twenty-First Century Fox, Inc., doing business as 21st Century Fox (21CF), was an American multinational mass media corporation that was based in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. It was one of the two companies formed on June 28, 2013, f ...
, including
YES Network
The Yankee Entertainment and Sports Network (YES) is an American pay television regional sports network owned by Yankee Global Enterprises (the largest shareholder with 26%), Sinclair Broadcast Group and Entertainment Studios (which owns 20%), A ...
. However, on June 27, 2018, the
Justice Department
A justice ministry, ministry of justice, or department of justice is a ministry or other government agency in charge of the administration of justice. The ministry or department is often headed by a minister of justice (minister for justice in a ...
ordered their divestment under antitrust grounds, citing Disney's ownership of
ESPN
ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...
. On May 3, 2019,
Sinclair Broadcast Group
Sinclair Broadcast Group, Inc. (SBG) is a publicly traded American telecommunications conglomerate that is controlled by the descendants of company founder Julian Sinclair Smith. Headquartered in the Baltimore suburb of Cockeysville, Maryland, t ...
and
Entertainment Studios
Entertainment Studios, Inc., also known as Allen Media Group, is an American media and entertainment company based in Los Angeles. Owned and founded in 1993 by businessman Byron Allen, the company was initially involved in the production and d ...
(through their joint venture,
Diamond Holdings) bought
Fox Sports Networks
Fox Sports Networks (FSN), formerly known as Fox Sports Net, was the collective name for a group of regional sports channels in the United States. Formed in 1996 by News Corporation, the networks were acquired by The Walt Disney Company on Mar ...
from
The Walt Disney Company
The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...
for $10.6 billion. The deal closed on August 22, 2019, thus placing Fox Sports North in common ownership with neighboring Sinclair station
WUCW
WUCW (channel 23) is a television station licensed to Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States, serving the Twin Cities area as an affiliate of The CW. Owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group, the station maintains studios in the Pence Building on 8th ...
in Minneapolis. On November 17, 2020, Sinclair announced an agreement with casino operator
Bally's Corporation
Bally's Corporation is a gaming, betting, and interactive entertainment company headquartered in Providence, Rhode Island. It owns and operates 15 casinos across ten states, a horse track in Colorado, and online sports betting operations in 14 st ...
to serve as a new
naming rights
Naming rights are a financial transaction and form of advertising or memorialization whereby a corporation, person, or other entity purchases the right to name a facility, object, location, program, or event, typically for a defined period of t ...
partner for the FSN channels. Sinclair announced the new Bally Sports branding for the channels on January 27, 2021. On March 31, 2021, coinciding with the
2021 Major League Baseball season
The 2021 Major League Baseball season began on April 1, while the regular season ended on October 3. The postseason began on October 5. The World Series then began on October 26 and ended on November 2 with the Atlanta Braves defeating the Houston ...
, Fox Sports North was rebranded as Bally Sports North, resulting in 18 other Regional Sports Networks renamed Bally Sports in their respective regions.
In the spring of 2021, Bally Sports North aired five Timberwolves games on
WUCW
WUCW (channel 23) is a television station licensed to Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States, serving the Twin Cities area as an affiliate of The CW. Owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group, the station maintains studios in the Pence Building on 8th ...
, branded as "Bally Sports North Extra". This was the first time since the
WFTC
WFTC (channel 9.2) is a television station licensed to Minneapolis, Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States, broadcasting the MyNetworkTV programming service to the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Twin Cities area. It is owned-and-operated station, ow ...
deal that any broadcaster regionally aired Timberwolves games over-the-air.
In the spring of 2022, Bally Sports North aired two Twins games and a Wild game on
WUCW
WUCW (channel 23) is a television station licensed to Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States, serving the Twin Cities area as an affiliate of The CW. Owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group, the station maintains studios in the Pence Building on 8th ...
.
Programming
Bally Sports North holds the exclusive regional cable television rights to
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...
from the Minnesota Twins (having aired the team's games since 1989, and exclusive rights since 2011),
NBA
The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United St ...
games from the Minnesota Timberwolves (since 1995), NHL games from the
Minnesota Wild
The Minnesota Wild are a professional ice hockey team based in Saint Paul, Minnesota. The Wild competes in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division in the Western Conference and play their home games at the Xcel Ener ...
(since 2000), and
Major League Soccer
Major League Soccer (MLS) is a men's professional soccer league sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation, which represents the sport's highest level in the United States. The league comprises 29 teams—26 in the U.S. and 3 in Canada ...
games from
Minnesota United FC
Minnesota United FC is an American professional soccer club based in Saint Paul, Minnesota that plays in the Western Conference of Major League Soccer. The club began play in 2017 as the league's 22nd club, and replaced the North American Socc ...
(beginning in 2018). They also air
WNBA games from the
Minnesota Lynx
The Minnesota Lynx are an American professional basketball team based in Minneapolis, playing in the Western Conference in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). The team won the WNBA title in 2011, 2013, 2015, and 2017.
Founded pr ...
and
AHL games from the
Iowa Wild
The Iowa Wild are a professional ice hockey team in the American Hockey League, that began play for the 2013–14 season. The team plays at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines, Iowa, as the AHL affiliate of the NHL's Minnesota Wild.
The team was f ...
as well. The channel also broadcasts
NCAA
The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...
Division I collegiate sporting events from the
Minnesota Golden Gophers
The Minnesota Golden Gophers (commonly shortened to Gophers) are the college sports teams of the University of Minnesota. The university fields a total of 25 (12 men's, 13 women's) teams in both men's and women's sports and competes in the Big Te ...
and the
North Dakota Fighting Hawks
The North Dakota Fighting Hawks (formerly known as the Fighting Sioux) are the athletic teams that represent the University of North Dakota (UND), located in the city of Grand Forks, North Dakota.
Originally in the Division II North Central Con ...
, as well as college hockey games from the
National Collegiate Hockey Conference
The National Collegiate Hockey Conference (NCHC) is an NCAA men's Division I hockey conference formed on July 9, 2011. The league began playing for the 2013–14 season, the same season that the Big Ten Conference began competition, as a combina ...
schools the
Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs
The Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs are the athletic teams that represent the University of Minnesota Duluth. They were first named Bulldogs in 1933. Their colors are maroon and gold. The school competes in the NCAA's Division II in all sports except ic ...
and the
St. Cloud State Huskies
The St. Cloud State Huskies are the athletic teams for St. Cloud State University. The university is primarily a member of the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC), and currently sponsors 18 NCAA Division II teams. SCSU also sponsors a ...
. Finally Bally Sports North airs
Minnesota Vikings
The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) North division. Founded in 1960 as an expansion ...
related material though it is limited to a pregame show airing on NFL Sundays a couple of hours before the game as well as replays of preseason action.
Bally Sports North also distributes some of its programming to Bally Sports Wisconsin, including a reduced schedule of Minnesota Wild games, most NCHC hockey games and competitions sanctioned by the
Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association
The Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association (WIAA) is the regulatory body for all high school sports in Wisconsin. Its history dates to 1895, making it the earliest continually existing high school athletic organization in the country. I ...
(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
The Milwaukee Bucks are an American professional basketball team based in Milwaukee. The Bucks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Central Division. The team was founded in 1968 ...
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
The World Poker Tour (WPT) is an internationally televised gaming and entertainment brand. Since 2002, the World Poker Tour has operated a series of international poker tournaments and associated television series broadcasting playdown and the fi ...
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. Beginning in April 2021, Bally Sports North has been using Sinclair-owned
WUCW
WUCW (channel 23) is a television station licensed to Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States, serving the Twin Cities area as an affiliate of The CW. Owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group, the station maintains studios in the Pence Building on 8th ...
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
The Bally Sports app is the video streaming service of the former Fox Sports Networks, now Bally Sports regional sports networks. The app replaces Fox Sports Go (FSGO), the app of the former Fox Sports Networks. The service is available for custo ...
.
On-air staff
Current
Minnesota Timberwolves
* Michael Grady – play-by-play announcer
*
Jim Petersen
James Richard Petersen (born February 22, 1962) is an American former professional basketball player, and a current television analyst with the Minnesota Timberwolves. From 2009 to 2017 he served as an assistant coach and later associate head coac ...
– analyst
* Katie Storm - courtside reporter
* Marney Gellner - pregame/postgame host
*
Rebekkah Brunson
Rebekkah Brunson (born December 11, 1981) is an American basketball coach, currently an assistant coach with the Minnesota Lynx of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). Brunson is a former forward for the Lynx and is the only playe ...
- pregame/postgame analyst
*
Quincy Lewis
Quincy Lavell Lewis (born June 26, 1977) is an American former professional basketball player who last played with the pro club Iurbentia Bilbao Basket in Spain. He currently works as an analyst for Fox Sports North, covering the Minnesota Timbe ...
- pregame/postgame analyst
*
Kevin Lynch - pregame/postgame analyst
Minnesota Twins
*
Dick Bremer
Dick Bremer (born March 1, 1956) is a sports broadcaster for Bally Sports North. He has been the lead television announcer for the Minnesota Twins since 1983. He has also called Minnesota Golden Gophers men's basketball and Minnesota Golden Gop ...
– play-by-play announcer
* Chris Vosters – fill-in play-by-play announcer
*
Justin Morneau
Justin Ernest George Morneau (born May 15, 1981) is a Canadian former professional baseball first baseman. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Minnesota Twins, Pittsburgh Pirates, Colorado Rockies, and Chicago White Sox. At and ...
— analyst
*
Jack Morris
John Scott Morris (born May 16, 1955) is an American former professional baseball starting pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) between 1977 and 1994, mainly for the Detroit Tigers. Morris won 254 games throughout his career.
Armed ...
– analyst
*
LaTroy Hawkins
LaTroy Hawkins (born December 21, 1972) is an American former professional baseball pitcher. In his 21-year Major League Baseball (MLB) career, he played for the Minnesota Twins, Chicago Cubs, San Francisco Giants, Baltimore Orioles, Colorado Ro ...
— analyst
*
Anthony LaPanta - pregame/postgame host & fill-in play-by-play announcer
*
Roy Smalley – pregame/postgame analyst
*
Glen Perkins
Glen Weston Perkins (born March 2, 1983) is an American former professional baseball pitcher and a television analyst. He played his entire career in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Minnesota Twins.
He made his major league debut with the Min ...
- pregame/postgame analyst
* Marney Gellner - on-field reporter
* Audra Martin - on-field reporter
Minnesota Wild
*
Anthony LaPanta – play-by-play announcer
*
Ryan Carter
Ryan Michael Carter (born August 3, 1983) is an American former professional ice hockey forward. He played nearly 500 games in the National Hockey League (NHL).
Playing career
Early career
From 2001–04 Ryan Carter played for the Green Bay G ...
– analyst
*
Kevin Gorg
Kevin () is the anglicized form of the Irish masculine given name (; mga, Caoimhghín ; sga, Cóemgein ; Latinized as ). It is composed of "dear; noble"; Old Irish and ("birth"; Old Irish ).
The variant ''Kevan'' is anglicized from , an ...
- studio/rinkside analyst
*
Wes Walz
Wesley Walz (born May 15, 1970) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player and former assistant coach with the Tampa Bay Lightning of the National Hockey League (NHL). Previously, he played centre for the Minnesota Wild of the NHL and ...
- studio analyst
*
Tom Chorske
Thomas Patrick Chorske (born September 18, 1966) is an American former professional ice hockey player. A forward, he played for eleven seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL). In September, 2006, he was named color commentator for New Jers ...
- studio analyst
* Audra Martin - studio host
University of Minnesota Hockey
* Doug McLeod - play-by-play announcer
*
Ben Clymer
Ben Andrew Clymer (born April 11, 1978) is an American former professional ice hockey defenseman who played in the National Hockey League with the Tampa Bay Lightning and Washington Capitals. He also played college hockey at the University of Min ...
- analyst
Minnesota Lynx
* Marney Gellner - Play-by-Play announcer
* Lea B Olson - analyst
Minnesota United FC
* Callum Williams - play-by-play
*
Kyndra de St. Aubin - analyst
* Charlie Beattie - sideline reporter/analyst
Minnesota Vikings
(Preseason only)
*
Paul Allen
Paul Gardner Allen (January 21, 1953 – October 15, 2018) was an American business magnate, computer programmer, researcher, investor, and philanthropist. He co-founded Microsoft Corporation with childhood friend Bill Gates in 1975, which h ...
- play-by-play
*
Pete Bercich
Peter James Bercich (born December 23, 1971) is a former professional American football linebacker in the National Football League. He played college football for the University of Notre Dame. He played five seasons for the NFL's Minnesota Viki ...
- analyst
*
Ben Leber
Ben Leber (born December 7, 1978) is a retired American football linebacker in the National Football League (NFL). He was drafted by the San Diego Chargers in the third round of the 2002 NFL Draft and later played for the Minnesota Vikings.
Earl ...
- sideline reporter
Iowa Wild
*Joe O'Donnell – play-by-play
Other
*
Ann Carroll
Ann Carroll is a camogie player. twice an All Ireland inter-county medalist and the outstanding personality in the first decade of the history of the All-Ireland Senior Club Camogie Championship winning medals with both St Patrick’s, Glengo ...
– host/reporter
Former
*
Tom Hanneman
Tom Hanneman (June 29, 1952 – December 17, 2020) was an American play-by-play television announcer for the Minnesota Timberwolves basketball team of the National Basketball Association (NBA) and had been with the franchise since its inception in ...
– studio host (deceased)
*
Bert Blyleven
Bert Blyleven (born Rik Aalbert Blijleven, April 6, 1951) is a Dutch-American former professional baseball pitcher who played 22 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1970 to 1992, primarily with the Minnesota Twins. Blyleven recorded 3,701 ...
- Twins analyst
*
Jamie Hersch - Twins/Wild studio host (now at
NHL Network)
*
Greg Coleman
Gregory Jerome Coleman (born September 9, 1954) is a former American football punter who had a 12-year career in the National Football League playing for the Cleveland Browns, the Minnesota Vikings, and the Washington Redskins. He attended Flo ...
- Vikings sideline reporter (retired)
*
Dave Benz
Dave Benz is an American broadcaster who formerly served as the television play-by-play announcer for the Minnesota Timberwolves of the National Basketball Association (NBA).
Broadcasting career
Comcast SportsNet
Benz hosted several programs for ...
- Timberwolves play-by-play announcer
References
External links
*
{{Navboxes, list1=
{{MSP TV
{{Sioux Falls TV
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{{Bismarck-Minot TV
{{Rapid City TV
{{U.S. regional sports networks
{{SportsChannel
{{Prime Network
{{Fox Sports Networks
{{SBGI
{{NHL on SportsChannel America
{{NHL on Fox
Fox Sports Networks
SportsChannel
Television stations in Minneapolis–Saint Paul
Television channels and stations established in 1989
1989 establishments in Minnesota
Former CBS Corporation subsidiaries
Bally Sports