The T'Wolves are averaging "almost 2,000 more fans per game" this season than during the '16-17 campaign, and the club is on pace to post its "best attendance numbers in a non-lockout-shortened season" since '05, according to Nick Halter of the MINNEAPOLIS/ST. PAUL BUSINESS JOURNAL. The team, which currently is 26-16 and holds the No. 4 seed in the Western Conference, is averaging 16,175 fans per game at Target Center, and T'Wolves Chief Revenue Officer & Senior VP Ryan Tanke "expects that number to reach between 16,500 and 17,000 by year’s end." Tanke said that the team "got a boost" from a 20% increase in season-ticket sales following the offseason trade for F Jimmy Butler, and then "enjoyed single-game ticket gains" throughout the first half of the season. While the T'Wolves are "enjoying the strong first-half," the team "still ranks in the bottom half of the league for attendance (25th out of 30 teams)" (BIZJOURNALS.com, 1/9). Meanwhile, T'Wolves ratings on FS North are currently 66% higher through 40 games compared to this time last season. The current ratings are on pace to be the highest they have been since the lockout-shortened '11-12 season (Fox Sports).
BEST SHOW IN TOWN: In Minneapolis, Jerry Zgoda noted the T'Wolves hosted their "fourth consecutive sellout crowd" on Monday for their 127-99 win over the Cavaliers. This is the team's longest sellout streak since March '12 (Minneapolis STAR TRIBUNE, 1/9). Also in Minneapolis, Chip Scoggins writes Target Center on Monday was "on fire with intensity and excitement, and it felt like the place to be on a Twin Cities winter night." It is "always an event when LeBron James comes to town," but T'Wolves fans "showed up to do more than gawk at the traveling circus this time." They "came for the home team." T'Wolves C Karl-Anthony Towns: “It felt like a playoff game. We didn’t want to disappoint [fans]. We knew how big this game was. We knew this was a test to see how far we’ve come through the season” (Minneapolis STAR TRIBUNE, 1/9).
