Over 2 million fans attended Twins games in '17 and the team believes that number will grow this yearGETTY IMAGES
The Twins are trying to "find ways to improve" Target Field in just their ninth season at the ballpark, according to Sid Hartman of the Minneapolis STAR TRIBUNE. The team has made the entrances to Gates 29 and 34 more user friendly, "trying to eliminate the bottleneck of fans" that often happened before and after games. Twins President Dave St. Peter: "We've worked to widen that concourse, adding about 1,500 square feet of space. It has created a much better experience for ingress and egress. It has also created some really new dynamic standing-room areas that offer some very solid sight lines." The Twins also replaced the Metropolitan Club, which was exclusive to season-ticket owners, with the new Bat and Barrel club, which will be "open to anyone with a ticket to the game." Bat and Barrel will have a tap wall with 22 local beers. St. Peter said that it is a "big hit" with fans. He added this is about a $15M investment, with $10M "directly from the Twins" and $5M from a ballpark fund. Meanwhile, Hartman notes the Twins opened the '10 season with 3.2 million fans, but "dropped in attendance every season" from '11-16. Attendance rose from 1.9 million in '16 to "just over" 2.05 million in '17. St. Peter said that with a competitive team, there is a "strong belief that number will rise again" in '18. St. Peter: "We have seen a nice increase in our season ticket base. I think it will be somewhere between 13,000 and 14,000 full-season equivalents come Opening Day." St. Peter said he is "hopeful" the Twins will have between 2.2-2.3 million fans in total (Minneapolis STAR TRIBUNE, 3/30).
