DAZN has officially priced its Minnesota Timberwolves streaming package, marking a pivotal experiment in the fragmented U.S. regional sports broadcasting landscape. The standard plan is set at $19.99 per month or $119.99 for the full 2026-27 season, while an upgraded Ultimate tier will cost $24.99 monthly or $139.99 for the season, according to the company's updated customer guide.
This launch is more than just another way to watch NBA basketball. It represents a live test of whether a global streaming platform can transform the struggling regional-sports-network (RSN) model into a sustainable local subscription business. DAZN, a privately held company with no publicly traded shares, is betting that its technology and scale can succeed where traditional cable-centric RSNs have faltered.
The service will carry locally broadcast preseason and regular-season games across Minnesota, Iowa, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, and parts of Kansas and Wisconsin. However, it excludes games exclusively aired on ABC, ESPN, NBC, Peacock, or Amazon's Prime Video. According to the Minnesota Star Tribune, 27 games are nationally exclusive, leaving 55 of the 82-game regular season for DAZN to distribute. Of those, 15 games will be available free to users who create a DAZN account, with the specific station and dates yet to be announced.
The $19.99 monthly price closely mirrors the $20 per month FanDuel Sports Network charged local viewers last season, but the comparison highlights a key difference: the earlier package also included Minnesota Wild and Lynx games, while DAZN's offering is built around a single NBA team. This narrower bundle means subscriber conversion, not headline pricing, will be the critical commercial metric.
For season-pass buyers, the upfront payment of $119.99 is roughly equivalent to six monthly payments, saving about $19.94 compared to seven months of standard billing. However, viewers who join late or cancel early could find the monthly option more economical. The Ultimate tier adds a second viewing location, up to five simultaneous devices, and other enhanced features for $20 more per season.
DAZN is also offering a seven-day free trial and a 20% discount on the season pass for season-ticket holders. These promotions, along with the 15 free games, are designed to reduce friction for new subscribers, but they also complicate revenue forecasting. Free reach benefits sponsors and the team, yet it gives price-sensitive fans more avenues to avoid a full-season commitment.
The Timberwolves deal is just one piece of DAZN's broader U.S. expansion. In August, the company acquired ViewLift, bringing technology and relationships with 15 major U.S. professional teams and five regional sports networks. DAZN has also announced local arrangements with multiple NBA clubs, positioning the Timberwolves launch as a unit test for a scalable platform.
Additionally, DAZN agreed to acquire EverPass Media, the commercial distributor of NFL Sunday Ticket to bars and venues. Under the August 26 agreement, EverPass investors RedBird Capital, the NFL's 32 Equity, and NYSE-listed TKO Group Holdings will become minority shareholders in DAZN. This gives TKO investors indirect exposure to DAZN's U.S. distribution ambitions, though the stake size and transaction value were not disclosed.
For investors in Amazon (AMZN), the immediate read-through is more muted. Prime Video's nationally exclusive Timberwolves games remain outside the DAZN package, illustrating that local direct-to-consumer rights can coexist beneath the league's national streaming layer. This fragmented setup may preserve premium national windows while increasing the number of subscriptions a dedicated fan needs.
The strongest counterargument to the bullish platform narrative is that DAZN has not disclosed its rights cost or subscriber targets. Without those figures, price alone cannot establish attractive unit economics. The next evidence to watch is paid conversion after the free games and trial, renewal rates without heavy promotions, additional team wins, and whether DAZN secures a role in the NBA's planned centralized local-streaming hub for 2027-28. If those signals fail to materialize, this launch may prove reach without durable returns.
