Twins president Dave St. Peter told Sports Headliners the club has sold 19,500 season tickets so far for its first year at Target Field. The total may top 20,000 and far exceeds the previous franchise high of 11,000 for season tickets. The season ticket total will place the Twins among the top 10 franchises in major league baseball, according to St. Peter.
St. Peter expects the Twins to be in the three million range for fan attendance in the new downtown stadium. While not willing to offer specifics, he said the club isn’t budgeting to lose money in 2010.
With Target Field capacity at about 40,000, single season ticket buyers will need to be more proactive in purchasing tickets than in the past when the Twins played in the Metrodome with a larger capacity and the season ticket total was considerably less. Group ticket sales are also completed in advance of game dates and will add to the reduced inventory available to single game buyers.
Demand for tickets for the team’s first regular season series at Target Field will far exceed availability so the club is promoting registration via a random drawing to provide selected fans the opportunity to purchase seats. https://secure.mlb.com/min/ticketing/ticket_opp_form.jsp
Registration for the opening series ticket opportunity began on Friday and ends February 10, according to the team’s Website. The initial Target Field series is April 12, 14 and 15 against Boston.
St. Peter had no comment on contract negotiations with Twins catcher Joe Mauer. Mauer and the Twins have a mutually strong interest in agreeing to a new contract that will keep him with the organization for several seasons.
However, concerns on both sides may increase if a deal isn’t completed prior to the start of the regular season in April. Mauer becomes a free agent after the season and is able to then entertain other offers. Also, players usually prefer not to be distracted with negotiations during the season.