Rant on Empty Seats At Target Field

[jimmyc]

The weather has been mostly miserable.  Personally, I was ready to write off baseball with the off-season labor crap.  They did absolutely nothing for months.  They saved it for me by beginning the season at a date that makes more sense than the recent start dates.  But the health effects of the delay on players seems to be larger than I thought it would be.  Players, owners and officials do not seem to grasp that they are losing audience or are clueless about how to reverse that trend.  There is nothing more boring or agonizing than watching a pitcher walk around the mound or the batter rearrange every piece of clothing after every couple of pitches, if not sooner.

[Richie the Rally Goat]

On 5/17/2022 at 11:34 AM, Trov said:

Those fees you only pay if you buy online.  If you go to walk up sale, which as poster pointed out there is plenty open, you will not pay the online fees.  You only have to worry about fees if team starts to sell out and you want to make sure you have a seat.  

Online ticket fees is absurd. Why would it cost more for online ticket sales? They dont even print the ticket or pay a human to run the till. Also, I live far enough away where I’m buying tickets ahead and bringing a group. I’m not risking sitting separate from my group and driving hours to get there without the guarantee of getting in the gate

[ashbury]

9 hours ago, Drunk_Goose said:

Did they even get a lot of fans during their hey day with Henderson, Canseco, etc?

The five years 1988-92 were franchise-best for attendance, at least 2.2M each year and peaking at 2.9M in 1990.  They've eclipsed 2M a half-dozen more time in the 2000s, but the era you named was indeed their best for drawing fans.

https://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/OAK/

[Major League Ready]

On 5/17/2022 at 12:49 PM, DJL44 said:

With playoff expansion I would not be surprised to see MLB drop to a 150 or even 144 game schedule in the future.

Once they sell the expensive seats they don't care anymore. They know they have to keep the price of the "cheap seats" high in order to justify the prices of the expensive seats. They don't care about selling out the stadium as long as they're selling out the luxury boxes.

EVERY business wants to maximize revenue.   The people in those "cheap seats probably spend $10 each on concessions or twins clothing.  They have been averaging around 20,000 below capacity.  If they sold half of that capacity it equates to $10M/year.  It's also important to retaining fans.  The premise they don't care is irrational.  The game has a problem in general with 3 outcomes and 3 1/2 hour games.  Pitch clocks have been working quite well in Milb and I expect they will be introduced along with other changes in an attempt to revitalize interest in the game.

[RLTW894]

On 5/17/2022 at 10:05 AM, DJL44 said:

If the Twins have empty seats it is because the cost is too high. I checked on tickets for a mid-week game in the next series. The tickets for upper deck seats were advertised at $15 each but added over $12 in fees making the cost per ticket over $21 each. Ticket prices above $20 are no longer "cheap seats". If you want to go on a weekend the price is usually $5 per ticket higher. There are discounts and coupons but you have to put in some effort to find them and they're always dwarfed by the added fees.

MLB teams don't care about in-person attendance. Each new stadium that gets built has fewer seats than the one it replaced. Once they sell out the luxury boxes they've made their money.

It doesn't help the Twins that casual fans can go to a Saints game and get a better ballpark experience for less money.

I live 1.5 hours away from Target Field. This is my first year as a season ticket holder with the 40 game flex plan. Yes, it’s pricey. But I was going to take my hard core fan teen daughter anyway. It’s our bonding time. With gas prices skyrocketing, that alone has added huge costs to what I’ll pay over the season. But there are ways to help save money.

I use park and ride on the Metro. As a vet, I ride free and my guests also ride free (fine print says only me, but police always allow my guests to ride free, too. Thank you!) This also means no parking costs.  If I park near the stadium, I use ParkWhiz. It’s often cheaper even with my season ticket parking discount. If I plan far enough ahead, I can usually find $5 parking close enough.

You are allowed to take bottled water and packaged snacks. This helps save money with crazy cost of food and drinks at Target Field. I use a single compartment draw string bag that complies with rules. It saves a ton of money at the game.

Low attendance is actually good for the bargain hunter. Buy cheap seats and move up to better seats.

Don’t buy tickets from resellers! They charge fees that can double the cost of cheap tickets. Buy directly from the Ballpark app. This year, there are no fees. Otherwise, buy at the ticket window. You still need Ballpark app, but again, no fees. Last year, I also got tickets from Craigslist. This is good for better seats as you can find OK to good deals. Again, no fees if buying from individuals (Resellers also use CL.)

If you know you are going to attend a bunch of games, season tickets really do make sense. You pay face value. You can buy smaller packages. You can share a plan with other people. The Twins encourage this and provide the online space to do this.  You can also pay monthly. I bought my tickets in November of 21 and so my monthly ended up being over 10 months. There is no interest and no fees with monthly plan. The perks are really fun and cool if you haven’t done this before. My daughter loves doing the extras. If you follow other teams, you also get free MLBtv and can watch live games outside of your local area.

Twins also offer standing room only monthly plans. If you know you are going to attend a lot of games during a month, it comes out to around $5 a game, no fees. It’s standing room only, but right now, you can find lots of open seats, even good ones. Attendants rarely ever check your seats, especially after game starts. 

If you are a student, you can attend many games for $5 and get free Metro ride to games.

There are many ways to save money and enjoy the Twins. These are what I’ve done or know about. Get out and support the Twins. They are good this year and could have a great season. I even think they have a great shot at making the playoffs. With my season tickets, I’m guaranteed tickets at face value.

[USAFChief]

On 5/19/2022 at 5:47 PM, Richie the Rally Goat said:

Online ticket fees is absurd. Why would it cost more for online ticket sales? They dont even print the ticket or pay a human to run the till. Also, I live far enough away where I’m buying tickets ahead and bringing a group. I’m not risking sitting separate from my group and driving hours to get there without the guarantee of getting in the gate

Has there been a single game this season where you would not have been able to buy tickets at the gate, and sit together? Maybe opening day?

[RLTW894]

1 hour ago, USAFChief said:

Has there been a single game this season where you would not have been able to buy tickets at the gate, and sit together? Maybe opening day?

Every single game so far this year, you could have gone to the ticket window at the game and purchased seats together, even on opening day. Opening Day, the stadium had many people attend, but there were still plenty of open seats. No game has been close to selling out yet.

[bean5302]

1 hour ago, RLTW894 said:

...Last year, I also got tickets from Craigslist. This is good for better seats as you can find OK to good deals. Again, no fees if buying from individuals (Resellers also use CL.)...

Can't stress enough how scammy CL has been when it comes to event tickets. I've been scammed and everybody I know whose frequently used CL has been scammed. Police don't even follow up on crimes which aren't felony level. Even if you pay with a US Postal Money Order making it a federal crime, there will be no follow up so there isn't any deterrent it seems. This is my personal experience.

The rest of what you said is good info

[RLTW894]

2 minutes ago, bean5302 said:

Can't stress enough how scammy CL has been when it comes to event tickets. I've been scammed and everybody I know whose frequently used CL has been scammed. Police don't even follow up on crimes which aren't felony level. Even if you pay with a US Postal Money Order making it a federal crime, there will be no follow up so there isn't any deterrent it seems. This is my personal experience.

The rest of what you said is good info

Yes, you are taking a risk with Craigslist. Thank you for pointing that out. I understood this and was worried, but thankfully, every purchase was legit for me. Once you know a legit seller, you can reliably go back to that person if they offer other tickets. I avoided the expensive tickets that sounded a bit too good to be true and stuck with people selling cheaper seats. It also helped that for one game, the generous person was giving away tickets to veterans.

[lecroy24fan]

4 hours ago, USAFChief said:

Has there been a single game this season where you would not have been able to buy tickets at the gate, and sit together? Maybe opening day?

Opening Day there were plenty of seats together.

[kydoty]

Major League Baseball is reaching towards mid-90s NHL level of awfulness at marketing their product.  A Shohei Ohtani 20 to 25 years ago would’ve been by far the biggest story in North American professional sports.  But in 2022, the nation collectively really doesn’t care.  

[Rosterman]

This Memorial Day weekend would be a joy for any fans from Kansas City. Great outdoor games in Minnesota. I know I have taken the drive to Kansas City, even to a couple of games where the Twins fans outnumbered the locals.