Record-Low Attendance Puts Minnesota Twins at a Crossroads

[old nurse]

The promotion of players won’t do a thing for attendance. I was there more fans out to watch Ryan pitch? How about when Keaschall came back.?  I early June when the Twins were playing great after starting slowly were there any more fans?  Yes playing a pile of AAA and fringe major league players will not and should not draw fans. Hometown players, big contract players, and all stars were not drawing them in, either 

[TwinsDr2021]

#1 thing is to fire Rocco. (at least that way I attend to watch Ryan pitch if he is still around)

Other than a change of ownership, can't really see anything else that would help. Even winning will take time, because until they proven they can keep it up in the second half of the season, fans will just figure they will collapse anyway. 

 

 

[Trov]

I personally think fans just got over the season after the trade deadline, and the team has just tanked.  They are not playing fun baseball to watch. To me, it is not just about wins and losses, but is the team entertaining to watch.  Do they just strike out a ton, leave a ton of guys on base, never steal, have poor defense?  If that is the team you put out, why are you going to watch? 

One other thing that hurts is the push of the WNBA and having the team in that league, some fans will not take their time and money to watch them over the Twins. 

[Rhyno006]

Reading all the comments here leads me to one summarization:

This whole organization needs a fresh start from the top on down.  

[twinzcynic]

15 hours ago, TopGunn#22 said:

They could actually fire their FO, manager and his entire coaching staff and chart a new course.

This is the thing that would bring my money back tbh. I have no hope with them developing any talent they may have, much less identifying talent. This is the most unfortunate by product of no sale from the pohlads.

[rdehring]

Great look at the situation Cody.  Thanks.

My son played college ball at Denver U and remains in Denver 35 year later.  Huge baseball fan and fan of the Rockies.  Asked him last winter how the Rockies continue to draw so well considering they are terrible every year.  His response was that Coors Field is the place to be all summer.  There are a lot of younger adults living in the immediate area.  He said many aren't baseball fans, they just go there for the party.  I guess it may help to have the ballpark named after a beer.

[MikeNC]

Be careful what you ask for.  The TDS aside, as i noted a month ago there at least 6 major cities, with LOCAL ownership, who are looking to lure a MLB team.  The Nashville Tunes (my name, not theirs - yet) being the leading candidate.  We all remember Norm Greed, right?

[Woof Bronzer]

That attendance chart seems to indicate a correlation between winning and attendance.  If more attendance = more profit for the Pohlads, it would follow that there is a positive correlation between winning and profit.

It took me 2 minutes on an internet blog to come to this conclusion.  40 years into their reign the "business savvy" Pohlads have somehow never understood this.  

[kenneth frank]

I believe Pohlads are preparing to sell and move the team elsewhere. Target field's will expire in a couple years. 

[AKTwinsFan]

Fans are tired of the lack of change. If Joe really sold the team and the new owners hired on a new manager, and brought in some more talent to be competitive the fans will come again. No one wants to see more of the same lackluster play. And lack of change.

[Don't Feed the Greed Guy]

16 hours ago, HerbieFan said:

I think the "Crossroad" came in October 2023 when Little Joey announced they were cutting payroll eight months or so after signing Correa and then winning a playoff series.  We are well past the so-called crossroads.

Amen. The only way I step back into Target Field is if the Twins are active in free agency, and spend some of that newfound minority ownership money. 

[TheLeviathan]

Attendance has been bad long before the trade deadline.

Ownership sent the message after 2023 that winning was not the top priority.  It's really as simple as that.

All roads lead back to the Pohlads.

[old nurse]

7 hours ago, TheLeviathan said:

Attendance has been bad long before the trade deadline.

Ownership sent the message after 2023 that winning was not the top priority.  It's really as simple as that.

All roads lead back to the Pohlads.

The 2023 team spent money. They were in first place in the division all year except for a couple of days. Their record at the end was exactly the same as the 1987 Twins.  There was an increase of about 2000 fas per game, still about 18000 empty seats. The fans sent a clear message to the Pohlads 

[Jim wyllie]

Good article although in my opinion if Lopez has some good starts to finish the year after returning from the il, I would consider trading him but keeping Ryan and extending him.   It would allow for more additions in other areas especially bullpen.

 

[MGM4706]

The Pohlads have a huge Credibility issue with Fans & Taxpayers.

They sent Jerry Bell trotting around for months carrying their water. He preached time & again that if only the Taxpayer would fund a new stadium then the Twins would be able to increase payroll AND become COMPETITIVE!!

As soon as the money was approved the plan changed. Yes, Payroll increased moderately for a short period. But then it started to be cut back to the previous levels and then to even lower levels which we see now. The question is "Was that ALWAYS the long-term plan"? Only the Pohlads and Jerry Bell know that answer!

Now what? Only better players and a more serious commitment to winning would seem to be the answer. Are the Pohlads ready to change course and prioritize WINNING? 

If Falvey is given minimal funds to work with and if Rocco has to submit a lineup filled with AAA Players then nothing will change. 

 

 

[Eric the Grape]

An additional item that needs to be resolved is broadcasting rights that favor a much broader potential viewing audience. While the economics of these licensing deals definitely need to be weighed heavily, simply going to the highest bidder ignores the fact that building a loyal fan base requires enabling  as many fans as possible to watch as many games as possible. Quite honestly I gave up trying to watch baseball on TV because the last few times I updated my subscriptions to watch the rug got pulled out from under me. SOLVE THIS by losing some money on the front end but picking up viewers who then will come to games. Hope Wolves and Wild ownership are paying attention as well...

[Otaknam]

The team is populated with fringe major league bullpen waiver claims and several bench guys who shouldn’t be on the roster. Yuck! The trades indicated a rebuild, so why have the aforementioned players instead of younger prospects like Sabato, Fedko, and maybe some AAA pitchers? I would watch the young guys trying to establish themselves. Otherwise there is no reason to watch.