Minnesota Wild Entrenched In Battle With Major Cable TV Provider Over Televising Games

The Minnesota Wild's 2026-2027 season is underway, but the team's plans for televising games for fans are still a work in progress.

After the long-time TV home of the Wild closed up its Minnesota offices earlier this year, the team worked with the NHL to develop a new television strategy centered around a streaming subscription, while also working out partnerships with cable and broadcast TV partners.

This is much like the roadmap the Minnesota Twins developed a couple of years ago, offering fans a dedicated streaming option while also partnering with some cable and satellite TV partners to broadcast all of the games and then offering a select handful of games for free via an over-the-air broadcast TV partner. The whole production is being branded as Wild+.

The Wild's streaming option (an add-on through Amazon's Prime Video service) is up and running, and the team announced partnerships with Spectrum and Fubo, along with 10 games being televised for free around the region on broadcast TV, but a lot of fans are still being left out.

A major cable TV provider in Minnesota's largest TV market, the Twin Cities, has yet to agree to terms on a deal to televise games.

The Minnesota Wild shared a statement on their social media story recently, explaining that negotiations have stalled between Comcast Xfinity and the league over pricing. The team's statement reads as follows:

Comcast/Xfinity wants to put Wild+ on a higher-priced tier than the one that carries other regional sports networks. 

Fans should contact Comcast/Xfinity at 1-800-934-6489 and let them know that you want to watch Wild+ on the same tier as other local sports networks. 

In short, the argument being made by the team, as well as the NHL (which is negotiating the TV deals), is that fans with the regional sports package shouldn't have to pay even more if they have the cable package that includes other similar programming - like the Minnesota Twins.

READ MORE: How & Where To Watch Minnesota Wild Games For Free On Over-The-Air TV

While not mentioned in the team's statement, negotiations with DirecTV are reportedly in a similar situation, though some rumors suggest a deal is closer to being completed with the satellite TV provider.

While Wild fans who have Comcast Xfinity could subscribe to the Wild+ streaming package in the interim, that's another $20/month for something it's easy to argue you should already have access to with your current cable package.

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While I haven't seen any public responses from Comcast Xfinity about the negotiations, cable and satellite providers and regional sports networks have long been a pain point due to the fees necessary to carry the games and how that will look on a subscriber's bill.

There sadly have not been any updates on negotiations, but as the season continues to get underway, one would imagine both sides are motivated to find a solution soon. In the meantime, a lot of fans are being left frustrated.