Let's Party: Twins, A-B Building Roof Deck At Target Field

Budweiser Roof Deck Will Be Signature Element At New Target Field, Opening In '10

The Twins and longtime sponsor A-B are developing their own version of a branded rooftop space at their new $545M downtown ballpark opening in '10. The Budweiser Roof Deck will be a signature design element at Target Field. A large Budweiser sign, 65-feet wide and topping out at 11-feet high, is being erected this afternoon above a five-story building in left field containing the party deck. A-B has been a Twins sponsor since the mid '80s, said team President Dave St. Peter. The sponsored roof deck most closely resembles Fenway’s Budweiser Pavilion in right field. But it also incorporates elements of Fenway’s Green Monster seats and the rooftop bleachers across the street from Wrigley Field, St. Peter said. In Minneapolis, the outdoor space, developed by Populous, the stadium architect, encompasses 150 fixed seats and standing room for another 150 people, said Twins Senior VP/Business Development Laura Day. Budweiser will serve its products on the roof deck. Delaware North Sportservice, the Twins’ concessionaire, will sell grilled foods, and an open fire pit will keep those patrons warm during early and late-season games, Day said. The club is conducting fan research before determining ticket prices for roof deck seats, but Day said she expects them to be “very affordable” because the structure’s location adjacent to the left-field foul pole may create some blind spots on the field. The Twins are also positioning the roof deck for small corporate events and for postgame entertainment with taped music and large video screens. Initial research indicates Twins fans would pay a small cover charge to mingle on the roof deck after the game is over. Those customers that bought roof deck tickets for the game will allowed to remain there without having to pay the fee, Day said. The Twins are negotiating founding partner deals with three more firms to put their brands on other sections of Target Field, Day said. One deal involves a “Minnesota legacy company,” but given the backlash against sports marketing deals in a down economy, the announcement could be delayed until the fourth quarter, she said (Don Muret, SportsBusiness Journal).

READING A NEW SCRIPT: In Minneapolis, LaVelle Neal III reported St. Peter last week confirmed that the team is "tweaking its logo for 2010," when it moves into the new ballpark. St. Peter: "It is part of a global revision of our marks for the 2010 season. It's a very subtle change." Neal noted there is a Twins logo "above the 57-foot-high scoreboard in left-center field" at Target Field, and a "closer look at that logo reveals a change in the script" used to spell "Twins." Instead of the letters being "blocked off at the ends, the ends are more pointed." The change is "most noticeable in the S." St. Peter said that the Twins "looked at three or four options and consulted with [MLB] before settling on the new design." St. Peter added that the club "continues to discuss uniform changes for 2010," though he would not specify those potential changes. St. Peter: "The uniform changes that are coming are more of a tweak than a major overhaul" (Minneapolis STAR TRIBUNE, 5/30).

BUILDING SOMETHING SPECIAL: A Minneapolis STAR TRIBUNE editorial stated Twins Owner the Pohlad family "will deserve this community's thanks when Target Field opens next season." Not for "accepting $350[M] in public funding, but for ensuring that the stadium will deliver on a promise of adding new life to the Twin Cities, state and region." Also, the Pohlads and their private-sector partners, "relatively quietly over the past several years," have invested an additional $55M in Target Field on top of the original pledge of $130M (Minneapolis STAR TRIBUNE, 6/1). Meanwhile, also in Minneapolis, Sid Hartman noted the Twins have been receiving about $20M from MLB revenue sharing, but St. Peter said that the figure "will be reduced quite a bit in the future with the additional revenue expected from the new stadium" (Minneapolis STAR TRIBUNE, 5/31).