The Twins for the "first time are in danger of drawing fewer fans in a season than they did in the team’s final year at the Metrodome," according to Mike Kaszuba of the Minneapolis STAR TRIBUNE. After peaking at 3.2 million fans in Target Field’s first year, the team’s attendance "has steadily fallen," with the Twins drawing 2.47 million last year. At the Metrodome, which is "being torn down, the team drew 2.416 million fans" in '09. The Twins this year are "still hoping to reach 2.5 million fans -- with the boost" of the team hosting its first All-Star Game since '85. But the team "acknowledged that it had sold 1.6 million tickets so far for this year, behind the 1.75 million tickets sold at this time a year ago." Twins President Dave St. Peter said three consecutive 90-loss seasons are "going to take a toll." Team officials also said that season tickets "have fallen sharply." After selling 25,000 season tickets in "each of the first two years at Target Field, the total dropped" to 23,000 in '12 and 19,000 in '13, and stands at 17,100 heading into this season’s April 4 home opener. St. Peter said that it was "unfair to compare current ticket sales to the Twins’ last year at the Metrodome." He added that even with '09 "being the last year there -- and with the Twins winning the division that year -- the team still sold only 11,000 season tickets" (Minneapolis STAR TRIBUNE, 3/17).
