As MLB Touts Attendance Surge, Twins Are Left Out of the Fun

[Cody Christie]

MLB is touting rising attendance across the league. However, things haven’t gone as planned for the Twins. What does that mean moving forward?

Image courtesy of Matt Blewett-USA TODAY Sports

Earlier this week, MLB.com wrote about the league's rising attendance this season, including reaching a new milestone. It will be the second consecutive year that attendance has risen, and MLB believes those increases are tied to the rule changes instituted leading into the 2023 campaign. According to the report, it will be the first time baseball has had consecutive years of attendance gains since the 2011-12 seasons. MLB also notes that attendance is up 10% compared to 2022 and will be the highest-attended season since 2017. 

Last winter, the Twins wanted to build off MLB's momentum and set a goal of surpassing the 2 million fan mark for the first time since before the pandemic. Minnesota will fall short of that goal, though. They're the boat the rising tide can't lift. So, why did this happen, and what are the long-term ramifications for the organization?

At the onset of the offseason, it made sense for the Twins’ brass to expect a rise in attendance. Vibes around the team were positive, after the club won its first playoff series in over two decades. On-field success usually translates to more interest in the club and higher season ticket sales. It didn't materialize in this case, though, and it's not hard to see why.

On-field success usually also translates to more investment in the club and higher expectations entering the following season. Those things didn't materialize last offseason, either. In February, Twins executive chair Joe Pohlad announced that they needed to “right-size” the business, resulting in a payroll cut of over $30 million, which had become evident over a maddeningly inactive winter. This cut meant the Twins front office had little to spend, and had to trade Jorge Polanco to free up payroll space. Minnesota was in the middle of a winning window, and the ownership’s senseless penny-pinching disheartened fans. 

The team’s complex television situation is another factor in this year’s attendance drop. Last winter, the Twins were television free agents who could have gone in a new direction to maximize their accessibility. Instead, the club re-signed with Diamond Sports Group, a company dealing with bankruptcy issues over the last two seasons and mired in disputes with the major carriers through whom fans watched. Minnesota received an estimated $35-45 million in their new deal, but that influx didn’t result in any additional offseason moves. After the season began, the contract between Bally Spots North and Comcast expired without an agreement on a renewal, which kept the Twins off of many television screens in the Upper Midwest for multiple months. Fewer eyes on games is going to mean less interest in the current team, and thus lower attendance.

Minnesota has had three seasons where more than 3 million fans attended games, including 1988, 2010, and 2011. All of those seasons have reasons why fan interest was high. In 1988, the club was coming off the team’s first World Series championship. In 2010 and 2011, Target Field was brand new, and fans wanted to experience outdoor baseball for the first time in decades. The Twins’ last season with more than 2 million fans was the 2019 campaign, when the Bomba Squad set the all-time home run record.

The Twins are averaging just over 24,000 fans per game during the 2024 season. That ranks 23rd across MLB, with only five AL teams behind them in the rankings. The Twins would need to average over 27,000 fans per game in their final homestand to surpass last year’s 1,974,124 attendance total. That seems unlikely, with the team’s recent play and three games during that stretch against the unbeloved Marlins.

Some fans will point to the team’s shortcomings this season and suggest the ownership group will see the error of their ways and invest in the 2025 roster. Unfortunately, the Pohlads have operated the Twins like a business throughout their tenure, and that isn’t going to change next season. Lower-than-expected attendance and a chance the team misses the playoffs are scary propositions for next season’s expected payroll. Leadership myopic enough to slash payroll after such a potentially galvanizing season is likely to follow the same pattern in the face of a frustrating one that saw revenue sag. 

Thanks to their huge volume of games, MLB is the most attended sports league in the world. However, the Twins need to make some fundamental changes if they want to increase their attendance in the coming years. It sure looks like they'll make merely cosmetic changes, and probably not even ones that take them in the right direction.

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Is the team’s attendance drop surprising? How will attendance impact next season’s payroll? Leave a comment and start the discussion.

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[TwinkieFan4life]

I will support the team win or lose.  This TV stuff has totally turned me off though.  I wrote it off as an unfortunate mess until this summer.  Selling the fan base on resolving the TV problem, only to sign a new agreement with Bally, followed by this season's TV debacle.  Unforgivable.  I feel basically nothing for this team at this point.  Hell, I have hardly seen them play.  

[Craig Arko]

8 minutes ago, TwinkieFan4life said:

I will support the team win or lose.  This TV stuff has totally turned me off though.  I wrote it off as an unfortunate mess until this summer.  Selling the fan base on resolving the TV problem, only to sign a new agreement with Bally, followed by this season's TV debacle.  Unforgivable.  I feel basically nothing for this team at this point.  Hell, I have hardly seen them play.  

Yup, this absolutely cannot happen again.

[DJL44]

14 minutes ago, TwinkieFan4life said:

I will support the team win or lose.  This TV stuff has totally turned me off though.  I wrote it off as an unfortunate mess until this summer.  Selling the fan base on resolving the TV problem, only to sign a new agreement with Bally, followed by this season's TV debacle.  Unforgivable.  I feel basically nothing for this team at this point.  Hell, I have hardly seen them play.  

I have been watching baseball on TV but it's usually the MLB.tv free game of the day, Apple game on Friday or the nationally broadcast games on the weekend. I don't mind substituting any MLB game for the Twins game.

[Fire Dan Gladden]

Attendance is down.  Team support is down.  Gee, I wonder why?

Somebody tell me why I, as a fan, am supposed to care more about the Twins product then the individuals that actually own the product?

[CCH]

I’ve been losing excitement as a Twins fan this season when it should be the exact opposite. The team’s on-field performance has been inconsistent, and the front office’s reluctance to spend on free agents in the offseason doesn’t help. The TV rights situation with Bally Sports has made it harder to even watch the games, adding to the frustration. Between roster moves I don’t agree with and a disconnect from the viewing experience, it’s tough to stay engaged. Figure your **** out Twins or this thing is going to spiral out of control fast.

[Karbo]

The ownership announcement early in the off season was mistake #1. Slashing payroll that much at one time was mistake #2. FO made poor trade for one of its most popular players. FO also signed FA relief pitchers w/o looking at the full history of the player. Trading deadline decision to stand pat was a huge mistake. Rocco thinking moving players all over the field, and expecting them to perform was crazy, as was his juggling lineups every day. His bullpen management has been bad for his entire tenure here. And the lack of playing fundamentally strong is inexcusable. I could go on and on. IMO the personnel need to changed, at least the coaching staff!

[theBOMisthebomb]

Here is my 2024 experience as a season ticket holder and a person who buys tickets to an additional 5 games or so each season. I am just a low level 20 voucher season ticket holder. I get that it's low bucks to the Twins ($600 per year). Still, my assigned ticket rep comes across as uninterested and standoffish. I actually set a time to discuss the new "premium" option they are offering for 2025 and the rep ghosted me. I had to hunt him down and ask for another time to discuss (with no apology from the rep for the previous appointment that he skipped out on with no explanation). Basically, they wanted me to decide to switch plans without comparing the numbers, which doesn't compute to me. I am guessing they have bigger accounts they are interested in managing. Still, if they are down on attendance why can't they find time for the smaller accounts. I've been a season ticket holder since 2018. I understand this might be isolated to just my rep or "one of those things". This is my second or third season with this rep and my third assigned rep since 2018. 

[bean5302]

The payroll cut was a bit too deep, and Dave St. Peter is incompetent at marketing. Ownership falling back on Bally Sports will be felt more next year than this year as rekindling interest will be very hard. Ownership being ultra-cheap with season ticket holders and not making it up to fans at the deadline is the only direct and strong Pohlad criticism I have.

Nobody forced Falvey to overplay his hand with Polanco and fail to make a move until the end of the offseason again. Nobody forced Falvey to keep Kepler despite it being clear he should have been dealt. Nobody forced Falvey to bring back Farmer or bring in Margot. That's $20MM Falvey squandered. That additional $20MM could have gone a long ways to addressing actual needs for the Twins.

None of the teams' performance matters, though. The (60-97) Colorado Rockies drew 31k / game this year and (59-103) 32k / game last year. Like Mark Cuban expressed many years ago, it's about fan experience at the games. The Rockies are terrible. They have terrible ownership, but the games are heavily attended because it's a great atmosphere.

Twins games are not a great atmosphere. Giveaways are cheap or tied to special ticket packages, and nobody gets them anyway. You look around the stadium with people wearing Correa jerseys you tried to show up 2hrs before game time to get. Hats and other giveaways often vanish over an hour before game time. Just a reminder the Twins don't care about fans as you sit in the empty stands. The damage done with disappointed fans far outweighs the benefit of a few fans being happy. Season ticket holders don't get a great experience, even worse again this year. Vendors in the seats calling out "hot dogs! peanuts!" finally partially returned a little this year, but have been missing for years. POS kiosks, have been unreliable, painful, slow, cumbersome messes like all the check out systems the Twins have deployed in the past 3 years. It still takes just as many staffers to walk people through the disaster of a setup. The lack of mass transit options the past couple years, finally partially rectified this year, has also impacted attendance. The real problem, though, is marketing. The failure to carry out a marketing vision to get season ticket holders to rebound. There are tens of thousands of disinterested new residents in condos and apartments around Target Field... ironic since Target Field itself was the genesis for the entire North Loop's resurrection. Dave St. Peter. King of being unable to harness that enormous asset. King of being unable to recognize trends. King of sound bytes at press conferences which get bent into "our former female marketing exec looks sexy in a dress!" and "fans should be embarrassed they don't support the team" Taking turns with Joe Pohlad shoving his foot in his mouth.

Until the Twins find a marketing executive who can connect with the immediate neighborhood to rebuild the season ticket holder base, and connect with teens and young adults, it's probably going to be a bit rocky for attendance at Target Field.

[bean5302]

17 minutes ago, theBOMisthebomb said:

Here is my 2024 experience as a season ticket holder and a person who buys tickets to an additional 5 games or so each season. I am just a low level 20 voucher season ticket holder. I get that it's low bucks to the Twins ($600 per year). Still, my assigned ticket rep comes across as uninterested and standoffish. I actually set a time to discuss the new "premium" option they are offering for 2025 and the rep ghosted me. I had to hunt him down and ask for another time to discuss (with no apology from the rep for the previous appointment that he skipped out on with no explanation). Basically, they wanted me to decide to switch plans without comparing the numbers, which doesn't compute to me. I am guessing they have bigger accounts they are interested in managing. Still, if they are down on attendance why can't they find time for the smaller accounts. I've been a season ticket holder since 2018. I understand this might be isolated to just my rep or "one of those things". This is my second or third season with this rep and my third assigned rep since 2018. 

My season ticket rep is the same way. Email only communication, frequently out of the office, can be condescending. I have 2 club level tickets for 40 games ($58 face/ticket) ($4700 with fees). There are only 2 sections available to 40 game packages. A and R (the very ends). Considering how empty Club Level is... I'd think the gatekeeping could be cast aside. I HATED the 1-time, pre-season only, 40% merch discount. HATED. Why can we just use it once during the season? It's not like it could be stacked and merch is on sale all the time. It was a slap in the face since my normal discount is 20%... meaning for me, it was a 20% discount on merch which was immediately reduced in price once the season began. 

Your tickets sound like they're Left Field Bleachers? Best deal at Target Field... but those aluminum benches are cold as ICE when temps drop. Kicking people out of your seats, having kids climb over you every 3 minutes, inability to resell tickets I wasn't using, and no cupholders had me wanting to upgrade last year. Turns out, reselling extra tickets is near impossible in club level, too. I often had to take $18-25/seat, minus the 10% kick in the groin fee. Though they people buying them probably paid like $50/seat with the disgusting astronomical fees.

[mikelink45]

https://photos.app.goo.gl/976rcnWLU5DcwBiF8

I don't know if this will work. I am in Milan Italy and I saw this.  I don't know how else to get it off or my phone and share it with everybody. But at least for a moment I had a positive baseball experience.    

[Karbo]

Wonder why Twins have an attendance issue? Just look at what die hard fans are saying on this site.

[Mike Sixel]

Any momentum they had for ticket sales was killed by the owners cutting payroll right after winning a playoff series. I anticipate more of the same this off season (it's a feedback loop, cut payroll, lose attendance, have to cut payroll, etc.).

[ashbury]

I've lived in other places that were better "baseball towns" than the Twin Cities.  If they wouldn't fill the ballpark when they had a winning team to watch, IMO the region has the team they deserve, one that is again* at risk of circling the drain in a never ending downward spiral of payroll cuts and declining revenues, always in tacit support of ownership's principle that a certain percentage of revenue is entitled as profit.

Dave St. Peter was beyond stupid to say it out loud, blaming the fans last year.  But he wasn't wrong.

* remember "contraction"?

[Rosterman]

Well, overall they SHOULD have the same budget as 2023. But they cut it for 2024, but still had TV money that ended up in their pockets, and attendance equal to the previous year. They SHOULD have the same budget in 2025 as this year, right...even if they have zlich dollars from TV (which won't happen).

The current team, after deducting free agents and giving contract pay increses and arbitration $$$, should basically have the same payroll. 

[bean5302]

9 minutes ago, ashbury said:

I've lived in other places that were better "baseball towns" than the Twin Cities.  If they wouldn't fill the ballpark when they had a winning team to watch, IMO the region has the team they deserve, one that is again* at risk of circling the drain in a never ending downward spiral of payroll cuts and declining revenues, always in tacit support of ownership's principle that a certain percentage of revenue is entitled as profit.

Dave St. Peter was beyond stupid to say it out loud.  But he wasn't wrong.

* remember "contraction"?

It's not about baseball. People do not go to baseball games to "watch" baseball. People do not go to football games to watch football, etc. People go to the game for the experience.

Take me out to the ballgame
Take me out with the crowd
Buy me some peanuts and Cracker Jack
I don't care if I never get back
Lets root, root, root for the TWINS
If they don't win it's a shame
For it's 1-2-3 strikes you're out
At the old ball game!

The bolded part of that song is the only part that has anything to do with the actual game of baseball. 

[Chad Freyer]

26 minutes ago, Mike Sixel said:

Any momentum they had for ticket sales was killed by the owners cutting payroll right after winning a playoff series. I anticipate more of the same this off season (it's a feedback loop, cut payroll, lose attendance, have to cut payroll, etc.).

Spot on, mate. 

[ashbury]

3 minutes ago, bean5302 said:

It's not about baseball. People do not go to baseball games to "watch" baseball. People do not go to football games to watch football, etc. People go to the game for the experience.

Take me out to the ballgame
Take me out with the crowd
Buy me some peanuts and Cracker Jack
I don't care if I never get back
Lets root, root, root for the TWINS
If they don't win it's a shame
For it's 1-2-3 strikes you're out
At the old ball game!

The bolded part of that song is the only part that has anything to do with the actual game of baseball. 

I had two of the best baseball experiences of my life last October in the playoffs at Target Field.

But most of the time at TF, the crowd sits on their hands except when the PA system is playing some happy-clappy music while the Jumbotron pleads to "let's get LOUD", and when it stops any enthusiasm dissipates instantly.  I don't honestly know what the people are there for.  I don't think they know, and they stop attending as a result.

[Woof Bronzer]

40 minutes ago, ashbury said:

I've lived in other places that were better "baseball towns" than the Twin Cities.  If they wouldn't fill the ballpark when they had a winning team to watch, IMO the region has the team they deserve, one that is again* at risk of circling the drain in a never ending downward spiral of payroll cuts and declining revenues, always in tacit support of ownership's principle that a certain percentage of revenue is entitled as profit.

Dave St. Peter was beyond stupid to say it out loud, blaming the fans last year.  But he wasn't wrong.

* remember "contraction"?

You're...blaming the FANS for this mess??????

[ashbury]

Just now, Woof Bronzer said:

You're...blaming the FANS for this mess??????

Long term? Absolutely.

[Mike Sixel]

Just now, ashbury said:

Long term? Absolutely.

Never blame the customers for a business' errors. IMO, of course.

[Woof Bronzer]

1 hour ago, theBOMisthebomb said:

Here is my 2024 experience as a season ticket holder and a person who buys tickets to an additional 5 games or so each season. 

This is fascinating.  When you think about it though, this is really in keeping with the Pohlad's unshakeable ownership philosophy that fans should unquestioningly invest as much money and time into the Twins as possible while the organization invests as little of their own money and time as possible.  Fans should turn out in September to spend money on a team free falling out of the playoffs; fans should also up their season tickets without asking any questions or having to waste the time of a customer service rep; etc etc.    

[Woof Bronzer]

6 minutes ago, ashbury said:

Long term? Absolutely.

That sure is a take lol.  As they say in business school, "if your product is crappy just blame customers for not buying enough of them to make it better."

[Fire Dan Gladden]

54 minutes ago, Mike Sixel said:

Any momentum they had for ticket sales was killed by the owners cutting payroll right after winning a playoff series. I anticipate more of the same this off season (it's a feedback loop, cut payroll, lose attendance, have to cut payroll, etc.).

The saying goes, you have to spend money to make money.

What is really sad about the Stadium experience, is that Target Field is a great place to watch baseball, probably top 3 (non-nostalgia category) in baseball.  It is the minutia that ruins it. 

[ashbury]

1 minute ago, Woof Bronzer said:

That sure is a take lol.  As they say in business school, "if your product is crappy just blame customers for not buying enough of them to make it better."

Business school teaches you a lot more than that.

[ashbury]

11 minutes ago, Mike Sixel said:

Never blame the customers for a business' errors. IMO, of course.

Sports is unlike most businesses.

[bean5302]

25 minutes ago, ashbury said:

I had two of the best baseball experiences of my life last October in the playoffs at Target Field.

But most of the time at TF, the crowd sits on their hands except when the PA system is playing some happy-clappy music while the Jumbotron pleads to "let's get LOUD", and when it stops any enthusiasm dissipates instantly.  I don't honestly know what the people are there for.  I don't think they know, and they stop attending as a result.

Most of the time, Target Field is empty. While attendance numbers might say a whopping 20k of people are there, the reality is actual attendance is much lower. Maybe 10k fans in the seats. The upper deck is virtually empty, and that contributes to a lack of ambiance and excitement. The "Lets get loud!" every 17 seconds is just trying to cover up for the lack of natural ambiance so it doesn't get awkward, and it exhausts the fans' enthusiasm.

If you have 25% of the fans engaged with each "lets get loud" chant or event and you have a sellout, it's going to be energetic each time. Like it was in the playoffs last year. When you've got 10k people in the seats, 25% doesn't get it done.

[ashbury]

12 minutes ago, bean5302 said:

Most of the time, Target Field is empty. While attendance numbers might say a whopping 20k of people are there, the reality is actual attendance is much lower. Maybe 10k fans in the seats. The upper deck is virtually empty, and that contributes to a lack of ambiance and excitement. The "Lets get loud!" every 17 seconds is just trying to cover up for the lack of natural ambiance so it doesn't get awkward, and it exhausts the fans' enthusiasm.

If you have 25% of the fans engaged with each "lets get loud" chant or event and you have a sellout, it's going to be energetic each time. Like it was in the playoffs last year. When you've got 10k people in the seats, 25% doesn't get it done.

I don't know why you are turning thumbs down on my posts when you and I are saying the same thing.  In the words of Yogi, if people don’t want to come out to the ballpark, nobody’s going to stop them.  I'd feel different if the Twins were perennial losers now, like in the 2011-2018 era, but last year and until August this year there was a good product to watch. Milwaukee and St Louis clean our clocks on attendance year after year.  Winning is a zero-sum game across the league, so you have to have a better marketing plan than "win every year".

[JensenGregory]

I have little doubt that ownership will take the wrong message from this dip in attendance and fan engagement. Instead of getting introspective and figuring out what *they* did wrong to cause this trend, they'll most likely use at as a rationale for further payroll cuts in the future because they don't think they can make as much money with lower engagement. And around and around we go.

[JD-TWINS]

So, I get the rest of the Game is up in attendance and not matching that is unfortunate. The reasons for the apathy has been outlined many ways here.

Bottom line though is they match last year’s attendance if they draw 27,000 over last 6 games. They average 24,000 fans/game. It’s supposed to be 82F & sunny Friday-Sunday. WIN ONE GAME tonight and “they will come”.

Even if the Team only averages 20,000 per game they’ll end up just 35,000 light in ticket sales v. ‘23. My assumption (live in Cincinnati) is tickets cost a bit more this year than last year? My point is Revenues can’t be very far off expectations in a budget done by the Club! It’s not some huge cloud over the organization.