When Forbes magazine releases its annual valuations of major league baseball teams next month the Twins will make a big jump from their $356 million figure for 2009. A local sports marketing authority who has followed the franchise for many years and spoke to Sports Headliners on condition of anonymity predicted that Forbes will highlight the Twins in its article.
“My guess is that with the team the Twins will put on the field and the new (fan) interest, the franchise will be valued at a half billion dollars,” the source said. “It will be the single biggest jump in baseball.”
Except for the team name and playing in a downtown stadium, the 2010 franchise is dramatically different from the one that almost went out of business following the 2001 season. Back then major league baseball considered the Twins prime pickings for contraction. The franchise had been slumping on the field (eight consecutive losing seasons had ended in 2001) and at the gate (attendance almost didn’t make one million in 2000). The element that seemed likely to push the franchise into oblivion was minimal legislative support for a new stadium to replace the Metrodome.
But what a difference nine years can make. The franchise that was once among baseball’s bottom feeders is now probably the envy of some owners and mentioned in the same breath with baseball’s better markets.
The Twins stopped selling season tickets on Monday, a gesture that will help preserve some seating at home games for single game purchasers. The total of over 24,000 season tickets more than doubles the franchise record. Club officials believe the total figure places the Twins among the top half dozen or so franchises for season tickets.
The Twins sold approximately 6,000 season tickets in 2001. Total attendance was 1,782,926, with the count at 1,924,473 in 2002 as the Twins made a dramatic improvement on the field both years including a Central Division championship.
The Twins don’t open their regular season home schedule until April 12 at their new Target Field ballpark, but have already sold out more than half of their 81 home dates. Tickets sold are approaching three million and the franchise will eclipse its 1988 franchise record attendance of 3,030,672.
“There’s almost a panic mentality for tickets,” the sports marketing source said. “The secondary market for tickets has never been higher.”
For the unfamiliar, “secondary market” means those who procure tickets for resale. Certainly that group includes professional ticket scalpers and maybe even a neighbor who thinks he can make an extra buck reselling his tickets.
The demand is being driven by a 21st century ballpark that will take its place this season on any list of America’s best baseball stadiums, and by a team likely to win a sixth Central Division title in nine years, and possibly be in contention for the franchise’s first World Series since 1991.