Victory Sports One
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| Type | Regional Sports Network |
|---|---|
| Area | Planned for Minneapolis-Saint Paul and outlying areas |
| Owner | Carl Pohlad |
| Key people | Kevin Cattoor, President[1] |
| Launch date | October 31, 2003[2] |
| Dissolved | May 8, 2004[3] |
| Website www.victorysports.com[4] |
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Victory Sports One was a cable and satellite television regional sports network owned by the Minnesota Twins baseball team. It was first conceived in 2001[5][6] and launched on October 31, 2003.[2] Victory Sports was the exclusive cable TV home of Twins games during its short run; in addition, it was planned to have coverage of various Minnesota college and high school games. The channel also simulcast ESPNEWS.[7]
The Twins opted to retain the local broadcast rights for game broadcasts after the 2003 season, in order to carry the games on their own network, after carriage for many years on FSN North. The model for the plan was the success of the New York Yankees' YES Network.[6]
However, Victory Sports was unable to obtain carriage from the primary cable television providers in the Twin Cities, the rest of the state of Minnesota, and the Dakotas, or from DirecTV or Dish Network,[7] though they did sign contracts with several smaller providers.[4][8] During the 2004 season, the Twins quickly re-signed with FSN North to placate viewers inconvenienced by the change, and were able to obtain a significant increase in cable revenue over their previous contract with FSN.[3]
[edit] References
- ^ Sheldon, Mark. "Gov. Pawlenty calls for mediation", MLB.com, 2004-04-21. Retrieved on 2008-01-13.
- ^ a b Fink, Adam. "TV future cloudy for men's hoops", The Minnesota Daily, 2003-10-31. Retrieved on 2008-01-13.
- ^ a b "TV Sports: Twins Return To FSN North", Mediaweek, AllBusiness, 2004-05-17. Retrieved on 2008-01-13.
- ^ a b "Victory Sports inks deals with three cable systems", The latest happenings from around the world of sports, Broadcast Engineering, 2004-04-30. Retrieved on 2008-01-13.
- ^ Kramer, Staci. "Fox Sues Twins in contract Battle", Cable World, BNet, 2001-06-04. Retrieved on 2008-01-13.
- ^ a b Umstead, R. Thomas. "Twins Net Would Follow Yankees' Lead", Multichannel News, 2001-10-01. Retrieved on 2008-01-13.
- ^ a b "Cable dispute means most fans can't watch games", Associated Press, 2004-03-22. Retrieved on 2008-01-13.
- ^ Garrison-Sprenger, Nicole. "Satellite firm signs major deal with Victory Sports", Minneapolis-St. Paul Business Journal, American City Business Journals, Inc., 2003-10-17. Retrieved on 2008-01-13.
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