Franchise Notes

Twins President Continues To Conduct Market Research For New Target Field's Ticket Prices

In St. Paul, Charley Walters notes in the wake of the Yankees "drastically reducing prices on some unsold premium tickets in their new stadium," Twins President Dave St. Peter said of pricing for the team's new Target Field, which opens next year: "We continue to do a lot of market research and believe prices (ranging from $10 to $275) continue to be at a proper level. We've done our due diligence" (ST. PAUL PIONEER PRESS, 5/1).

PRICE CHECK: In N.Y., Phil Mushnick writes of the Yankees lowering ticket prices for some premium seats, "It's not as if they were going to admit they made a colossal, greedy-headed blunder in pricing thousands of their better-to-best tickets obscenely high." The Yankees' "preposterously priced tickets were rejected by longtime subscribers, including corporations, the moment the prices were issued, and that was 13 months ago, before the economy hit the skids" (N.Y. POST, 5/1).

RISING STARS: In Houston, Richard Justice wrote the Astros franchise is in "far, far better" shape now than when Astros Owner Drayton McLane bought the team in '92. The Astros have a "spectacular ballpark and are in contention virtually every year." The team's "stretch of six playoff appearances in nine years is about as good as any professional sports team has had it around here except for the Rockets winning back-to-back championships" in '94 and '95 (CHRON.com, 4/30).

GAINING LEVERAGE: The PIONEER PRESS' Walters notes the Packers prior to the '08 season offered QB Brett Favre a $20M, 10-year marketing deal if he retired, but Favre signed with the Jets for the '08 season. Now that Favre has retired, he "could have new leverage: Give me the $20[M] and I'll stay retired. If not, I'll sign with the Vikings and make life miserable for the Packers" (ST. PAUL PIONEER PRESS, 5/1).