The Wild are doing their part to make this season interesting. The TV situation is doing the opposite.
Minnesota has opened with points in all three games, even with some worrying signs already surfacing. Tuesday’s 3-2 overtime loss in Buffalo, after the Wild let a 2-0 third-period lead slip away, was exactly the kind of game their fans would normally chew over for days. Instead, a lot of them couldn’t see it at all.
That’s the frustration hanging over the early part of the season: the NHL and the Wild still do not have a carriage agreement with Comcast, the largest cable provider in Minnesota.
The Wild rolled out a new Wild TV setup this year after FanDuel Sports North shut down at the end of last season. The idea was supposed to make access simpler. Fans can subscribe for $19.99 a month or $99.99 for the season through Prime Video, and the team also planned to have games placed on designated channels with cable and satellite providers.
But the hoped-for deals were not in place by opening night, and they still aren’t.
Sources familiar with the talks say the problem centers on the NHL’s insistence that Comcast carry all four teams the league is now producing and distributing - the Wild, Columbus, Carolina and St. Louis - and place them on the Premium Ultimate Tier, the same tier that carries the Twins and other regional sports programming.
The issue, as understood by those familiar with the negotiations, is simple: that setup apparently doesn’t work financially for Comcast in places like Columbus and large parts of the Carolina market, where interest would be limited. A direct distribution arrangement between Comcast and the Wild, rather than one that forces all four teams into the same package, would be better for both sides. The Wild and the NHL are expected to meet soon to go over where things stand.
For now, the practical reality is that more than two-thirds of the Wild’s 84 games are only available through Wild TV.
That has left fans scrambling. Both the Wild and Comcast are pointing viewers to Fubo or to the standalone Wild TV option on Prime Video, which costs $19.99 a month and includes a seven-day free trial.
Some fans have taken that route and are using the free trial while hoping the dispute gets resolved quickly. But there’s no guarantee of a fast fix. When Comcast was in a carriage fight involving the Twins on its old regional sports network in 2024, that standoff lasted almost three months.
Others are turning to illegal streams. Some are settling for the KFAN radio call and then checking out the video highlights afterward.
Either way, it’s not exactly the easy viewing experience the new model was supposed to deliver.
In Other News...
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Wild's Quinn Hughes Gamble Suddenly Feels Far More Dangerous
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For the Wild, the uncertainty is where the gamble starts to look more complicated. Contract length is part of the conversation, and so is the possibility that a shorter arrangement could leave Hughes positioned for a much larger market next summer, when other teams may come calling. The New Jersey Devils, with Hughes brothers in the mix, are already an obvious team to watch, and until Minnesota closes the book on the extension, the story around this trade is going to keep lingering. [Read more 🡒]