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This year, the Twins announced a number of ticket deals in order to give fans further incentive to come out to games. Some of these deals have become a yearly staple, but other new offers show that the team is looking to bolster its sales right off the bat of this new season.
The Twins started out the post-lockout period by running a limited-time no-fees ticket deal for single-game tickets. Around this same time, the Twins brought back the Twins Pass, a $54/month subscription pass that gets fans ballpark access, otherwise known as standing room only tickets, to every home game during the season excluding the Home Opener and games in September.
After the Twins beat the Seattle Mariners on April 10 to collect their first win of the season, the team announced a new sale called the Superstars Superdeal, which gives fans the ability to buy tickets to any Monday-Thursday game for cheap- $4 for upper-level tickets and $25 for lower-level seats. This sale runs through April 13. And once again this year, the Twins are running their perennial student discount, which allows college students to purchase $5 standing room tickets to any Monday-Thursday game. There is certainly no shortage of deals to be had for both loyal Target-Field goers and those who might need an extra monetary push to get out to a game.
The decision to bring back and expand ticket incentives for fans appears to be a wise one. So far this season, turnout at the games has been decidedly abysmal, though the cooler-than-average weather is certainly not helping. At the Home Opener, the Twins announced an attendance of 35,462, which was the smallest crowd to attend an opener - other than the COVID-impacted 2020 and 2021 seasons- in Target Field's history. It was just behind 2017's attendance of 35,837. No other opener has drawn less than 38,000 fans since Target Field opened in 2010. At the Twins’ April 11 game on a pleasant, 54-degree evening, attendance was announced at 12,932, presumably, a large portion of whom were season ticket holders.
So far this season, the Twins have had the third least attendance of the MLB teams who have played games at home, though once again, the Minnesota weather has been less-than-pleasant and the Twins opened at home rather than somewhere warmer on the road. (Of interesting note, the Tampa Bay Rays so far have the worst attendance in the MLB despite being the near-consensus #1 team in the power rankings. Hey, I myself love "The Trop").
Still, despite the at-times iffy weather, one might have hoped for a better fan showing on Opening Weekend, the fans' first weekend to see Carlos Correa in a Twins uniform, or in the Twins series against the Dodgers. The Dodgers are one of the top teams in baseball, and the Twins have not hosted them since 2017. Both are aspects which should create intrigue. Many of the fans who were at Target Field were not even Twins fans; it was readily apparent to those attending Tuesday and Wednesday's games that a large portion of the fans in the stands were wearing Dodger blue (and delighting in booing Correa). While it wasn't 50:50 Twins to Dodgers fans, it was not too far off that ratio.
Since Target Field opened in 2010, attendance has almost continuously dropped. Part of this can likely be attributed to the novelty allure of the sparkling, new Target Field wearing off after a season or two. The team's performance has been somewhat up and down during this time period too..
It is worth noting that attendance is falling league-wide as well. The Twins did experience an attendance uptick in 2019, the “Bomba Squad” year where the Twins set the MLB home run record and also won the AL Central Division, thus showing that attendance is predictably due at least in part due to performance. But if performance on the field cannot carry ticket sales on its own, the marketing department might consider continuing being creative and generous with new promotions.
My take
The Twins should continue doing everything they can to get fans into seats, especially if the Twins struggle this season. True, attendance for April Twins games is generally lower while it is cooler and kids are in school, and hopefully, more fans will come out of hibernation as the weather becomes more pleasant, but after last season's lack of success, fans might not be as eager to show out to the park. The Twins should continue running more $4 ticket deals or even consider giving away some free tickets. A fan with a free ticket would still likely spend some money on concessions or bring more profit to the team than an empty seat. Anecdotally, I have a friend who bought tickets to 20 games using the Superstars Superdeal. He says these are tickets he otherwise probably would not have bought, and I am sure he is not the only one. The team should consider expanding these promotions to weekend games, and/or just giving college discount students or Twins pass holders an actual seat for the game. It is the least the team can do for fans who are choosing to show up.
Having mostly-empty ballparks is demoralizing for both fans and players, and I am sure does not look good for potential free agents either. Even though these ticket deals arguably decrease the value of having season tickets or flex plan packages, filling seats should be a top priority. Though it is too early to tell how the team will fare this year, the Twins should keep the ticket steals coming.
Did any of these ticket deals incentivize you to buy more tickets? Leave a COMMENT below.
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