Twins Join the Jersey Patch Era with Securian Financial Sponsorship

[Matthew Taylor]

Image courtesy of Isaiah J. Downing–Imagn Images

The Minnesota Twins have officially entered Major League Baseball’s jersey advertisement era. On Thursday, the team announced a new multi-year partnership with Securian Financial, which includes the addition of a jersey patch featuring the St. Paul-based financial services firm.

Beginning with their first game out of the All-Star Break in Colorado, the Twins will now take the field wearing the Securian Financial patch on their uniforms. With this move, Minnesota joins the vast majority of MLB teams who have added jersey ads since the league first allowed them in 2022. Until now, the Twins were one of just four teams holding out, alongside the Rockies, Nationals, and Rays.

The team has never publicly explained why it took this long, but it likely came down to finding the right deal. Now they have one. In addition to the jersey patch, the Twins shared that Securian Financial will have a visible presence at Target Field as well as throughout their television and radio broadcasts.

This won’t change anything on the field, but it does bring in a few more dollars for the Pohlad family, who are in the process of selling the team. Commissioner Rob Manfred recently indicated that a sale might not be far off. While this sponsorship probably won’t affect that timeline, it could be a small bonus for a potential buyer to inherit an active and monetized partner.

For fans, the disappointment comes in seeing another ad on a jersey. The Twins were one of the last teams keeping their uniforms clean, and that felt somewhat refreshing in an increasingly branded sports world. Of course, people will get used to it, and the outrage will fade. But it’s still a little sad to see one more piece of the game give way to advertising.

What do you think of the new jersey patch? Are you for it, against it, or indifferent? Let us know in the comments.

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[thelanges5]

Not a big fan of these patches or any patches in any sport. Do we have any idea how much a patch like this costs the sponsor?

[Sjoski]

 

First naming right for venues fell.

opps...

The first thing to go was pure white boards in hockey...then venues...now jerseys.

What's next?

Mound Visits brought to you by TUMS.

THEN:

The Minnesota General Mills Twins vs the Seattle Boeing Mariners. 

 

[Sjoski]

39 minutes ago, thelanges5 said:

Do we have any idea how much a patch like this costs the sponsor?

Sources say almost as much as naming right for venues. That seems high. My guess is probably about 50% of venue rights. 

And of course.  Teams like the Yankees/Mets/Dodgers are raking in 20-25 million per year for stadium rights, Twins  are only making 5-6 million.  

 

[DocBauer]

In today's questionable financial market for MLB, with a foggy future that's probably 2-3 years from seeing any sort of real clarity, I can understand having a patch to increase financial intake to help the club. 

But without knowing the actual financial terms of said sponsorship patch, it's really hard for me to comment accurately. $10-12M makes a difference for a mid market team. But if we're only talking $2-3M, that's a cop-out IMO. No matter the TV deal, in the context of the $M's brought in, I'd rather keep the uniforms neat and clean. 

[Doctor Wu]

Sure, I understand the financial advantages, and that is the stark reality in these times, but I strongly dislike this sort of commercial sponsorship. I'm just an old school fan this misses the days when stadiums weren't all named after corporations.