With Correa Gone, What Will Bring Fans Back to Target Field?

[Dave The Dastardly]

Sorry, free beer ain't gonna cut it. We're talking Americans here; TV zombies trained to shop only "sales"; a discounted price. As such they believe 50% off is actually better than "free". So what the Twins have to do is offer two 50% off coupons for every adult ticket sold. If the Twins win, adults get handed another pair of 50% off beer coupons as they walk out of the stadium. This will accomplish three things; eliminate people leaving in the 7th inning to avoid the after-game rush, fill the stadium with all sorts of cheering and encouragement and encourage the ticket holder to come back for another game in order use their "new" coupons.

If the Twins loose, instead of more 50% coupons, adults get a Twins Crying Towel, a handkerchief-sized cloth bearing a likeness of a crying Baldelli. The backside will include a list of possible uses for the Crying Towel; blowing your nose, changing automobile oil, wiping up paint spills, wiping other things when hunting in the woods where bears go... all "feel good" activities.

Attendance will be off the charts. Guarantee it.

[Melissa Berman]

3 minutes ago, Dave The Dastardly said:

Sorry, free beer ain't gonna cut it. We're talking Americans here; TV zombies trained to shop only "sales"; a discounted price. As such they believe 50% off is actually better than "free". So what the Twins have to do is offer two 50% off coupons for every adult ticket sold. If the Twins win, adults get handed another pair of 50% off beer coupons as they walk out of the stadium. This will accomplish three things; eliminate people leaving in the 7th inning to avoid the after-game rush, fill the stadium with all sorts of cheering and encouragement and encourage the ticket holder to come back for another game in order use their "new" coupons.

If the Twins loose, instead of more 50% coupons, adults get a Twins Crying Towel, a handkerchief-sized cloth bearing a likeness of a crying Baldelli. The backside will include a list of possible uses for the Crying Towel; blowing your nose, changing automobile oil, wiping up paint spills, wiping other things when hunting in the woods where bears go... all "feel good" activities.

Attendance will be off the charts. Guarantee it.

The amount of those red 2019 Bomba Squad towels I own and have no use for. I drove around to so many Cubs stores hunting for them, I'm tellin ya, your ideas would all be great uses for them ?

[Fire Dan Gladden]

1 hour ago, TwinsDr2021 said:

How about the FO admitting they failed and lower ticket prices and running another get to know them campaign?

I don't believe the FO failed here.  What exactly did they fail with?  Not paying Correa a ludicrous contract?

They won't lower prices, but I think offering more ticket discount specials and programs would help with attendance.

 

[DJL44]

32 minutes ago, bloomwcjkl said:

Being competitive early in the season helps. The big mistake was not putting a roof on the new stadium. Outstate people like myself can't drive down and be assured a game.

I thought outstate people were too terrified of Minneapolis in broad daylight to get closer than 494/694.

[DJL44]

1 hour ago, Bigfork Twins Guy said:

Would borrowing the Saints pig spark interest?

I know this is intended as a sarcastic comment but I'm ready for Mike Veeck to run the Twins.

[TwinsDr2021]

23 minutes ago, Fire Dan Gladden said:

I don't believe the FO failed here.  What exactly did they fail with?  Not paying Correa a ludicrous contract?

They won't lower prices, but I think offering more ticket discount specials and programs would help with attendance.

 

Well they have won 78, 101, 36, 73, and 78 games in the last 5 years, and in the two years they made the playoffs didn't win a game the other year was a 60 game schedule, and 23 doesn't look like a better than .500 team. They got played by Correa, thus possibly keeping them out of other free agents, and now there is talk of paying Rodon more than if they would have just signed him last year, and how has the attendance been trending at Target field? So sure failure my be too strong, but on the other hand....

[nicksaviking]

1 hour ago, Mike Sixel said:

Why do people keep posting this? Has it ever happened?

I'd settle for lowering the beer prices.

And that has been done.

[nicksaviking]

34 minutes ago, Fire Dan Gladden said:

I don't believe the FO failed here.  What exactly did they fail with?  Not paying Correa a ludicrous contract?

They won't lower prices, but I think offering more ticket discount specials and programs would help with attendance.

 

I'm not in the lynch mob, but they failed to sign Bogaerts by not seeing through the smoke screen Boras was running. I don't know how you get involved with Boras and don't already assume he's going to try to hustle you.

[Vanimal46]

Back in my college days and the Timberwolves were a terrible team, they offered a ticket upgrade from the upper to lower level if you showed up early enough. I got to see Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook destroy the Wolves up close and personal! 

The Twins are truly approaching the apathy level of the Timberwolves from 2006-2020. Not even free tickets to the game would entice my friend group of casual Twins fans. 

[ashbury]

Melissa's asking the right questions, which IMO are more important than the tactical ones of putting a winning team on the field.  I'll summarize by saying Joe Pohlad seems well suited to finding answers and of course is well placed to see them implemented.  For me the benchmark would be, how can a family of four come to the ballpark for $100 and come away feeling good even if the home team loses 6-3 that day.  The higher tiers of revenue will fall into place if they can answer that one successfully.

[Mike Sixel]

1 minute ago, ashbury said:

Melissa's asking the right questions, which IMO are more important than the tactical ones of putting a winning team on the field.  I'll summarize by saying Joe Pohlad seems well suited to finding answers and of course is well placed to see them implemented.  For me the benchmark would be, how can a family of four come to the ballpark for $100 and come away feeling good even if the home team loses 6-3 that day.  The higher tiers of revenue will fall into place if they can answer that one successfully.

Start the game earlier during the week....lower prices......other than that, what? Why would a casual fan go to a MLB game? Especially for a team they can't even watch on tv and learn about?

They are going to have to offer all kinds of special deals, making pre-sales even harder! Because whose going to buy tickets early in the year if they think the team will offer discounts later? I don't envy the sales department right now.

[Parfigliano]

2 hours ago, TwinsDr2021 said:

How about the FO admitting they failed and lower ticket prices and running another get to know them campaign?

Not gonna happen as concerns ticket prices

[Parfigliano]

55 minutes ago, DJL44 said:

I thought outstate people were too terrified of Minneapolis in broad daylight to get closer than 494/694.

Not true.  I come from NM every year and hit at least 2 games then again wifes family lives there.

As far as crime?  Ha ha ha.  I have lived in and now go to Albuquerque regularly.  Minneapolis is nothing.

[tony&rodney]

1 hour ago, Whitey333 said:

playing sound fundamental baseball with players that have not been found in baseballs bargain basement,  would be a step in the right direction.

I have been pounding this drum since the season ended. San Diego drew 1.2 million more fans than the Twins last season. The team was weak fundamentally and rarely played an interesting game. Cleveland, by contrast, was a must watch team, even before they caught and passed the Twins. Some trades are needed and a shift in attitude and strategy must follow. A repeat of the plan would result in a further loss of butts in seats. 

[DJL44]

3 minutes ago, Parfigliano said:

Not true.  I come from NM every year and hit at least 2 games then again wifes family lives there.

As far as crime?  Ha ha ha.  I have lived in and now go to Albuquerque regularly.  Minneapolis is nothing.

You're out of state. I was referring to the rural residents of Minnesota who think Minneapolis is perpetually on fire.

[ashbury]

53 minutes ago, Mike Sixel said:

Start the game earlier during the week....lower prices......other than that, what? Why would a casual fan go to a MLB game? Especially for a team they can't even watch on tv and learn about?

They are going to have to offer all kinds of special deals, making pre-sales even harder! Because whose going to buy tickets early in the year if they think the team will offer discounts later? I don't envy the sales department right now.

As I tried to imply when I said "summarize", it's a complex and nearly intractable problem, and I certainly don't claim to have the answers.

This is an issue that goes above Falvey and Levine.  I would say Dave St Peter should be thinking in these strategic terms, except I can't for the life of me figure out what he does at work on a typical day, except to sign the paychecks of the guys in charge of making sure enough hot dogs and beer are ordered.  Another poster above suggested Mike Veeck, which is along the lines I'm thinking (I posted something about a month ago concerning "fun"), and if you go back to Mike's daddy Bill, well Bill was renowned for going into the cheap seats and talking with fans.  I have real doubts St Peter has ever done this.  IMO Joe Pohlad should, as market research; executives ought to get their hands dirty and really, *deeply* understand their markets.

Markets.  I come from a field (software development) where marketing isn't a dirty word.  Product marketing is its own subniche in the marketing world, and they work closely with the product side to construct plans for what will fill marketing demands, and then translate for Sales so they can convey the message to customers. You NEVER expect Sales to come up with solutions like we're talking about - they have enough to do when matching product to the customer's needs, "where the rubber meets the road."  As with my understanding of Analytics as a field, I see no evidence that the Twins treat marketing as where significant investment toward high-end talent is called for, anything greater in scope than taking pictures of the players and getting those to news outlets.  Product Marketing, if properly hired, should be empowered to tell FalVine, "no, you can't trade Arraez," if that's the solution they have to the overall marketing plan, and should be prepared to take it up to the top level for a decision if they can't see eye to eye.

One of the principles I learned in product marketing was to devise half a dozen or so "personas" to exemplify the variety of customers we are trying to satisfy.  Apparently that became second nature for me, because that $100 family of 4 is exactly a persona, one that I would then want to explore in such depth that I can write a realistic story about their day going to the ballpark, probably down to the detail of whether their Toyota is a Corolla or a Camry and how old a model.  Bill Veeck could have written a dozen related stories of the 1940s version of this family, in his sleep.  There are certainly other personas - the fat cat wanting to impress a client in a luxury box, etc. although the high-end ones I fear are already well-enough covered.

It doesn't matter what ideas I may propose, but I want to feel that Joe Pohlad will throw out previous approaches and start with a clean sheet of paper. Certainly fielding a winning team needs to be part of the strategy, but in a 30-team league with other franchises trying to make their own fan bases strong, it can't be the only part, not year-in and year-out, because then it's a zero-sum game, whereas I want every fan base to be strong.  Now I'm definitely repeating myself.

[spanman2]

3 hours ago, Melissa Berman said:

They have it on Tuesdays, thankfully, but why just one night, right!?

I think they just ran out of leftovers from the Metrodome a few years back...

[Vanimal46]

58 minutes ago, ashbury said:

For me the benchmark would be, how can a family of four come to the ballpark for $100 and come away feeling good even if the home team loses 6-3 that day. 

Make the game on the field the secondary entertainment… Take a page out of the indyball Saints or Savannah Bananas’ playbook and get as gimmicky as possible.

If improving the on field product is off the table, then they have to provide value elsewhere. I can go to any hole in the wall bar and order a craft beer for far less than what you pay at Target Field. There are tons of indoor and outdoor parks that kids can go to for far less than the price of a Twins ticket. They’re going to have to take a hit somewhere to make Target Field a desired destination. 

[Mike Sixel]

5 minutes ago, Vanimal46 said:

Make the game on the field the secondary entertainment… Take a page out of the indyball Saints or Savannah Bananas’ playbook and get as gimmicky as possible.

If improving the on field product is off the table, then they have to provide value elsewhere. I can go to any hole in the wall bar and order a craft beer for far less than what you pay at Target Field. There are tons of indoor and outdoor parks that kids can go to for far less than the price of a Twins ticket. They’re going to have to take a hit somewhere to make Target Field a desired destination. 

You don't have to pay to get into that bar either......and the selection is likely a lot better and cheaper. And the parking is less. And it is closer to your house.

[nicksaviking]

With the Twins current TV deal expiring, they are probably trying to figure out how to get fans to tune in instead. The higher the viewership, the better place they'll be to negotiate.

A 107M payroll isn't going to help do that.

[Bigfork Twins Guy]

Some of the planned game improvements may help.  Anything to speed up the game may make it more enjoyable to be in the park and would help attract a younger audience.  My sons and wife cannot even watch two innings as it is just too boring for them.

Playing fundamentally better baseball would also help.  We all have been asking for this but it never transpires.

Make the games fun again.  I joked about bringing in the Saints pig but without making it a s**tshow there should be something that can be done.

Get the games back on TV.  I follow them regardless, but the casual fan has no way to see the games hence, little to no interest.  If they could watch the games they would be invested and maybe even come to a few games.

Lastly, as we all know winning always brings them back.

[Fire Dan Gladden]

1 hour ago, TwinsDr2021 said:

Well they have won 78, 101, 36, 73, and 78 games in the last 5 years, and in the two years they made the playoffs didn't win a game the other year was a 60 game schedule, and 23 doesn't look like a better than .500 team. They got played by Correa, thus possibly keeping them out of other free agents, and now there is talk of paying Rodon more than if they would have just signed him last year, and how has the attendance been trending at Target field? So sure failure my be too strong, but on the other hand....

 

1 hour ago, nicksaviking said:

I'm not in the lynch mob, but they failed to sign Bogaerts by not seeing through the smoke screen Boras was running. I don't know how you get involved with Boras and don't already assume he's going to try to hustle you.

Why is everybody thinking the Twins got hustled or fleeced by Boras?  Do we actually think that we as fans know Boras and the rest of the teams FO are full of fools?  We seriously need to find a different excuse here...

Anybody think that maybe the Twins are "playing" the Yankees?  Rodon is not coming here, why not work to boost his salary another team pays... 

You know what you get when you deal with Boras, he will do everything in his power to get the most money for his clients.  Period.  By all accounts the Twins had a very solid offer on the table that was destroyed by the Giants insanity.

The Correa dealings had basically zero impact on other FA signings for the Twins (outside of the other big name FA shortstops).  Yeah, I said zero impact.  It didn't stop them from getting Vazquez.  The Twins are basically showing that they want to give their youth movement a year to see how they do.  They have enough talent to supplement things later if the season starts positive. 

Go FA contract by contract and find me the ones that were not overpays?  

Andrew Heaney threw 72 IP last year and got 2/$25
Kenley Jensen 2/$32 with a ton of red flags
Bassitt 3/$63 at the age of 34!
Stripling got 2/$25 after one good year
I am not going to even touch on DeGrom or the Mets

Argue that this is the market if you want.  Argue the Twins aren't willing to pay what other teams are paying.  But stop with the "Boras is looking for top dollar and every FO is too stupid to know this" argument.
 

[Mike Sixel]

4 minutes ago, Fire Dan Gladden said:

 

Why is everybody thinking the Twins got hustled or fleeced by Boras?  Do we actually think that we as fans know Boras and the rest of the teams FO are full of fools?  We seriously need to find a different excuse here...

Anybody think that maybe the Twins are "playing" the Yankees?  Rodon is not coming here, why not work to boost his salary another team pays... 

You know what you get when you deal with Boras, he will do everything in his power to get the most money for his clients.  Period.  By all accounts the Twins had a very solid offer on the table that was destroyed by the Giants insanity.

The Correa dealings had basically zero impact on other FA signings for the Twins (outside of the other big name FA shortstops).  Yeah, I said zero impact.  It didn't stop them from getting Vazquez.  The Twins are basically showing that they want to give their youth movement a year to see how they do.  They have enough talent to supplement things later if the season starts positive. 

Go FA contract by contract and find me the ones that were not overpays?  

Andrew Heaney threw 72 IP last year and got 2/$25
Kenley Jensen 2/$32 with a ton of red flags
Bassitt 3/$63 at the age of 34!
Stripling got 2/$25 after one good year
I am not going to even touch on DeGrom or the Mets

Argue that this is the market if you want.  Argue the Twins aren't willing to pay what other teams are paying.  But stop with the "Boras is looking for top dollar and every FO is too stupid to know this" argument.
 

If they want to give the youth movement a go, they need to be trading Gray, Mahle, and Kepler. None of them will be here when the youth take this team to greatness. 

[nicksaviking]

3 minutes ago, Fire Dan Gladden said:

 

Why is everybody thinking the Twins got hustled or fleeced by Boras?  Do we actually think that we as fans know Boras and the rest of the teams FO are full of fools?  We seriously need to find a different excuse here...

 

The Twins were unique to other teams in that Boras needed them to stay in on Correa, even if he knew they weren't actually going to get him. 

[Melissa Berman]

17 minutes ago, Bigfork Twins Guy said:

Some of the planned game improvements may help.  Anything to speed up the game may make it more enjoyable to be in the park and would help attract a younger audience.  My sons and wife cannot even watch two innings as it is just too boring for them.

Playing fundamentally better baseball would also help.  We all have been asking for this but it never transpires.

Make the games fun again.  I joked about bringing in the Saints pig but without making it a s**tshow there should be something that can be done.

Get the games back on TV.  I follow them regardless, but the casual fan has no way to see the games hence, little to no interest.  If they could watch the games they would be invested and maybe even come to a few games.

Lastly, as we all know winning always brings them back.

Yes, the pitch clock! I neglected to mention that, you're totally right. It will be really interesting to see if the shortened game times (around 30 minutes?) will have any impact across baseball. I know it will help keep the attention of some of my friends I go to games with

[mikelink45]

A winning team, dynamic game (lets hope the change work for quicker games), exciting team, good players.  As a person who did not care if we signed Correa to an oversized contract, I look for a lot more than losing with a big contract player.

[Fire Dan Gladden]

13 minutes ago, Mike Sixel said:

If they want to give the youth movement a go, they need to be trading Gray, Mahle, and Kepler. None of them will be here when the youth take this team to greatness. 

Gray is a cheap(ish) veteran transition piece,  Mahle is a potential long term keeper.

The Twins have too much potential youth talent to gut everything.  That is why they won't chop everything down just yet.  If the kids show something, they will need those guys.

[Fire Dan Gladden]

14 minutes ago, nicksaviking said:

The Twins were unique to other teams in that Boras needed them to stay in on Correa, even if he knew they weren't actually going to get him. 

I think the Twins knew where things stood when they made their offers a few weeks ago.  That doesn't mean they are or were going to go out and sign a different high dollar SS.  They also weren't going to pull it off the table on the slim chance he said yes.  

Either way, the Twins did not get played.

[Mike Sixel]

22 minutes ago, Fire Dan Gladden said:

Gray is a cheap(ish) veteran transition piece,  Mahle is a potential long term keeper.

The Twins have too much potential youth talent to gut everything.  That is why they won't chop everything down just yet.  If the kids show something, they will need those guys.

Neither is here past this year. Those are the players you trade in a youth movement. It is one plan or the other....

[Ryan_K]

Miami does it right, 3 or 5 menu, for 3 you get dogs popcorn pretzel or soda for 5 you get beer