Friday, September 11, 2026
Minnesota Timberwolves fans have a new way to watch the team locally this season. Whether they see it as better access or one more subscription may depend on how closely they want to follow the Wolves.
The Timberwolves and DAZN launched their new direct-to-fan service this week, with a standard plan priced at $19.99 a month or $119.99 for the season. An Ultimate plan costs $24.99 a month or $139.99 for the season and adds five simultaneous streams across two locations, multiview, alternate feeds and a one-time 25% merchandise discount.
Season-ticket holders receive 20% off the season pass, and DAZN is offering a seven-day free trial.
The subscription covers the Timberwolves' local preseason and regular-season broadcasts. Despite the "Season Pass" name, it does not include nationally exclusive games or the postseason.
Minnesota currently has 27 nationally exclusive regular-season games scheduled across ABC, ESPN, NBC, Peacock and Prime Video. Based on the current schedule, DAZN can carry 55 of the team's 82 regular-season games.
Fifteen of those games will be available free through DAZN and an over-the-air television partner. The team has not yet announced the station or which games will be free.
That leaves roughly 40 regular-season local games behind the paid offering based on the schedule today. The number could change because two regular-season games will be determined by the NBA Cup, and DAZN says more promotions and price offers are planned during the season.
For fans who want to watch every Timberwolves game, DAZN is only part of the picture.
NBA League Pass does not fill the gap for local fans because live games involving a viewer's home-market team are blacked out. If Minnesota makes the playoffs, those games will be carried by the NBA's national partners, not Timberwolves on DAZN.
A New Home After the RSN Collapse
The Timberwolves were looking for a new local broadcast model after FanDuel Sports Network's parent company wound down its regional sports network business.
Timberwolves CEO Matthew Caldwell has said DAZN won out based on the economics, reach and technology. The agreement is described as a five-year deal, although both sides have the option to exit after the first year.
That flexibility could matter. The NBA is working toward a centralized local streaming service for the 2027-28 season, and DAZN says it is in active discussions about participating.
For the Timberwolves, the deal provides a local broadcast home now while leaving room to respond if the market changes again.
For fans, the calculation looks different.
Last season, about $20 a month for the FanDuel Sports Network streaming app included Timberwolves, Minnesota Wild and Minnesota Lynx coverage. The new DAZN plan starts at about the same monthly price but is centered on the Timberwolves.
And it still does not put the whole season in one place.
Designing Around Fragmentation
DAZN appears well aware of the problem.
Zander Berlinski, DAZN's senior vice president of strategy and business development, told the Minnesota Star Tribune that the company is "very much conscious" of increasing sports fragmentation. He connected that concern to the 15 free games, over-the-air access and the seven-day trial.
More promotions and price offers are expected during the season.
Those choices give fans ways to try the service before making a bigger commitment.
A devoted Timberwolves fan may see $119.99 for the season as an easy decision. Missing dozens of local games may simply not be an option.
A more casual fan has choices. Watch the 15 local games offered free. Catch national games through services they already have. Then decide whether the remaining local schedule is worth another paid subscription.
Team loyalty can carry a lot. It still has limits when following one team keeps adding costs and subscriptions.
The Timberwolves are betting their fan base is loyal enough to support the new service. Their national popularity creates a complication: 27 games have already been claimed by national partners.
The better and more nationally attractive the team becomes, the fewer games remain inside its local subscription.
A Market Still in Motion
Sports streaming access was already drawing federal attention before this launch.
Earlier this year, nearly 9,000 comments were filed in an FCC review examining the movement of sports across free television, cable and paid streaming platforms. Fans raised concerns about cost, blackouts and the growing difficulty of figuring out where to watch a game.
The NBA has responded to some of that confusion with Tap to Watch, a feature that tells fans where an individual game is available and directs them to the appropriate service.
The need for a tool like that says a lot about the current sports streaming experience.
The Timberwolves launch puts the same issue into a real subscription decision. Fans now have a direct way to buy the team's local games. They still need to piece together the rest of the season elsewhere.
INSIDER TAKE
The Timberwolves start with something most subscription businesses would love to have: customers who already care deeply about what they are selling.
The question is how much fragmentation even that loyalty can absorb.
A $119.99 season pass may look like good value to a committed fan. But that fan may still need other services for national games and, if the Wolves make the playoffs, access to the national platforms carrying the postseason.
For subscription operators, the lesson is straightforward.
Customer loyalty gives you room to build a paid relationship. It does not give you unlimited room to add cost and friction.
DAZN and the Timberwolves seem to understand the challenge. The free games, trial and planned promotions are all meant to lower the resistance. Whether they lower it enough is the real test of this launch.
Related Member Resources
The Timberwolves launch puts two subscription questions side by side: What does the customer experience when access is split across services, and does the price still feel worth it once those extra steps and costs are counted? These resources help operators examine both parts of that decision.
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