The Minnesota Twins have settled on building 54 conventional suites at Target Field instead of the 60 they had initially planned.
To fill the void at the ballpark, set to open in 2010, the Twins are developing a 110-person super suite down the left-field line in a large space providing a great view of downtown Minneapolis, said Steve Smith, the team’s vice president of ticket sales and service. It could also be split into two smaller units depending on demand.
Until now the Twins did not offer a super suite product at Target Field, but after seeing what other clubs have done with group spaces in their new ballparks, including new Yankee Stadium, they decided to develop their own, Twins President Dave St. Peter said.
The incremental revenue boost that the Twins have generated from selling two terrace suites the past three seasons at the Metrodome, with each space seating more than 100 people, also came into play, St. Peter said.
Construction continues on Target Field,
scheduled to open next year.
“We did some additional research,” he said. “We never pegged 60 as the final number [and] always maintained that flexibility. We believe 54 is more right-sized than 60.”
As of last week, the Twins had sold 41 traditional suites ranging in price from $90,000 to $200,000 annually. Those skyboxes have 12 to 18 seats and are sold with three-, five- and seven-year terms.
The team plans to reserve three to four other suites for its use, which leaves about 10 remaining to sell, St. Peter said.
Club officials have not determined the marketing plan for the super suite, but it will most likely be tailored to a combination of season-ticket holders and groups, similar to how the Twins sell the dome’s terrace suites, Smith said.
The Twins have shared the Metrodome with the Vikings since it opened in 1982, but the Vikings control all suite inventory. The NFL club reimburses the Twins for tickets sold in the 95 traditional suites at a rate of $53 a ticket, the MLB team’s highest-priced ticket for a single-game club seat behind home plate.
The Vikings created the building’s first terrace suite in 2005, consolidating eight unsold suites. Under the terms of the agreement the Vikings signed then with the Metropolitan Sports Facilities Commission, their landlord, the Twins are allowed to sell those group spaces on their own and keep all revenue. The Vikings opened the second terrace suite for the 2007 NFL season.
The Twins reserve the 125-seat terrace suite down the left-field line for groups. In 2009, that premium space sells for $5,175 to $10,975 a game depending on the opponent, the size of the group and the food and drink package ordered, Smith said.
The 118-seat terrace suite down the right-field line is geared to businesses buying 20-game season-ticket plans. This year the price is $1,950 a person, which covers the cost of food and drink, including beer and wine.
The left-field terrace suite is 90 percent sold for Twins home games, with the other 10 percent of tickets used for tradeouts and internal business purposes, Smith said.
In the right-field terrace suite, 80 percent of the seats are sold as season tickets, with the rest distributed for single-game sales.
“It’s given us a chance to experiment with this product line,” Smith said.
