At long last, the Twins have a new television home.

Twins games had been on Bally Sports North (previously Fox Sports North) since 2005, but starting next season, Major League Baseball will produce and distribute Twins games. It’s a move that will expand the team’s reach through the Upper Midwest and make games easier to watch for many.

But what does this mean and how will this work? Here’s a list of frequently asked questions:

How can I watch the Twins?

For Twins fans who have cable and satellite, games are expected to be on a channel — MLB has negotiated distribution in the three markets that already use this model — that will air mostly Twins games and little else.

Team president and CEO Dave St. Peter said the channel would also have replays and he expected there to be pregame and postgame shows, though that hasn’t quite been finalized yet. Over time, there may be some other content, as well, but unlike Bally Sports North, it won’t be a channel with 24/7 content.

For those who prefer to stream games, there will be a direct-to-consumer streaming option that can be purchased. MLB produced and distributed Arizona Diamondbacks, Colorado Rockies and San Diego Padres games this season and priced them at $19.99 per month and $99.99 for the full 2024 season. The cost is expected to be similar next year.

Will I still have blackouts?

The local blackout restrictions that have been a major source of frustration for fans for years will go away for the most part as Twins fans finally will be able to stream their favorite team in-market.

However, if a game is nationally televised, that game will not be available to watch on the new direct-to-consumer streaming option.

Who will call Twins games?

There could be some changes to some on-air talent — sideline reporter Audra Martin, for example, is a Bally Sports North employee — but Cory Provus will be the team’s play-by-play announcer for his second season in 2025. St. Peter also mentioned that Justin Morneau would return and the Twins are expected to have a rotating cast of color announcers, as they’ve had in recent years.

St. Peter noted that Tuesday’s decision was bittersweet as it created a lot of uncertainty for Bally Sports North employees, many of whom had been involved with the Twins for years.

“As we go forward, that’s an area we’re going to focus on,” St. Peter said. “I’m hoping we’re going to be able to find roles for a number of those people in the production of Twins baseball on the MLB platform.”

How will this affect revenue and payroll?

The Twins expect to take a step back in terms of local revenue as a result of this deal. But, they believe it’s a move that will benefit them in the future and will certainly expand the reach of Twins baseball.

“We do expect there will be a reduction in local media revenue coming to the Twins in 2025. That’s a fact,” St. Peter said. “That said, over the long haul, we have tremendous confidence in our content and believe that whereas maybe we’ll take a dip for ’25, that over time, the viewership and those economics related to that viewership will increase.”

As for how the dip in revenue could affect payroll, the Twins indicated a couple weeks ago they did not expect to lower payroll next season after doing so by about $30 million last offseason.

“I think our ownership spoke on payroll recently and, at that time, they knew the direction we were headed on local television, so I don’t think (Tuesday’s) announcement has any impact on payroll,” St. Peter said.

Why didn’t they do this last year?

The Twins were television free agents last year after their long-term contract with Bally Sports North ran up. They could have gone the MLB route then.

Instead, they stuck with Bally Sports North for one final season and certainly received more money for it than they would have had they made the move a year ago. Beyond that, the Twins believe that MLB, given an extra season — the league first started producing and distributing games during the 2023 season — has worked out some more kinks in the process and the product will be more seamless next year.

“There were obviously a lot of things that the league has learned in their production and their distribution model, and the way they’ve gone about it has been refined,” St. Peter said. “I think we feel better going this year, knowing they have another full season under their belt and, frankly, I think the platform that we’ll be on in 2025 will be better than where they were when they launched this in the middle of 2023.”