Rob Manfred reveals: ESPN, Apple, or NBC might take over Twins TV rights by 2026

Could Minnesota Twins television broadcast rights belong to ESPN in 2026? It's a possibility, according to MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred.

Manfred, in a conversation with CNBC's Alex Sherman, said Major League Baseball is negotiating Sunday Night Baseball rights with Apple, ESPN and NBC, and a deal with one or multiple of the interesting parties could include the local television and streaming rights to the five teams — the Twins, Diamondbacks, Guardians, Rockies, and Padres — that MLB currently handles television and streaming production and distribution.

"It's possible that those teams could be a piece of what happens going forward," Manfred said.

“Our goal would be to accumulate all of our rights, national and local, go to the table and develop in concert with the potential buyers, packages that are most valuable to them,” Manfred explained. “I think our goals would be to have more national exposure, increase our reach. In addition, we think we have a cluttered environment right now. There’s a lot of places you have to go if you’re a fan of a particular team, and we think that we should strive to create a more fan friendly environment.”

Sherman reports that if ESPN strikes a deal for Sunday Night Baseball, it would want the rights to the five aforementioned teams "immediately." Sherman noted that "ESPN could pay more to get those local rights and include them with its soon-to-be-launched direct-to-consumer service."

If the Twins wind up being produced and distributed by Apple, ESPN or NBC, Sherman says the deal would "almost certainly be just a three-year agreement, so that MLB can reorganize its media rights after the 2028 season."

Twins games are currently produced and distributed by Major League Baseball via Twins TV, with naming rights belonging to FanDuel Sports Network.

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