Over the weekend the Minnesota Twins played their final home game at Target Field. Royce Lewis came off the bench and blasted a dinger to ensure they’d leave the stadium with a victory in their final attempt. That doesn’t change the fact that they are currently a dismal 67-89.
Things have gone bad this year, and they were made worse at the trade deadline when nearly 40% of the roster was parted out. Of course the Pohlads started this whole debacle two years ago after they “right-sized” the payroll following the deepest playoff run in decades.
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Attendance has been in the tank all season for Minnesota, but the tale of the tape is now finally in front of them.
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Worst Twins attendance since team was offered for contraction
1,768,728, that’s the final tally for the Minnesota Twins attendance this season. That’s a significant step back from 2024, and well short of the 2 million that Dave St. Peter projected before being replaced by Derek Falvey this winter.
Not only is that number worse than last year, but it’s the worst number in Target Field history, and worst for the Minnesota Twins since 2000. After that season, in which Minnesota lost 93 games and had just 1,000,760, the Carl Pohlad offered the franchise up for contraction in exchange for $250 million.
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Related: Expect Less Payroll for Crumbling MN Twins in 2026
We know that the current iteration of Pohlads aren’t selling at this point, and they just took on minority investors to clear their more than $400 million in debt. This thing is in the same hands as it was when the doldrums were last reached, and it should be expected to get worse.
Declining attendance in perspective for Minnesota Twins
The Twins decline in attendance was certainly felt this year, but it should be expected to get worse. Ticket sales take place largely before the season, and the install base of season ticket holders should shrink with these results. That will have Minnesota scrambling even further, and that’s before considering a greater roster teardown this offseason.
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The Athletic’s Aaron Gleeman contextualized the decline by the numbers, and no one at 1 Twins Way can avoid these realities.
Two major-league teams, the Athletics and Tampa Bay Rays, are playing in minor-league facilities with capacities under 15,000. Of the 28 teams playing in major-league ballparks this season, the Twins are 24th in announced attendance with 21,836 per game. They ranked 19th just two years ago.
There were just seven games with an attendance of at least 30,000, the last of which was prior to the All-Star break, on July 11, when Joe Ryan matched up against Pittsburgh Pirates phenom Paul Skenes leading into a postgame Nelly concert. Last season, the Twins had 18 games with at least 30,000.
This season’s announced Twins attendance is a 9.4 percent year-over-year decline, representing 182,888 fewer tickets sold than last season’s 1,951,616. And team officials were anticipating a year-over-year increase. Or at least that’s what outgoing team president Dave St. Peter said in January.
By mid-April, the Twins’ attendance was already down 9 percent compared to 2024, including an April 14 game versus the New York Mets that had the lowest announced attendance in the 16-year history of Target Field: 10,240.
It’s also worth noting MLB-wide attendance is up slightly this season, with the 30 teams combining to sell 115,156 more tickets than this point last year. And that includes the Twins’ attendance declining by 182,888, which means the other 29 teams are up a collective 298,044.
The bad-to-worse reality is one that is facing Minnesota this offseason. Again, the Pohlads got this ball rolling when they pulled the plug on positive momentum following the 2023 season.
Related: MN Twins Axe Scouting Department
Now those in the ticket and marketing departments will be tasked with trying to retain season ticket holders, and generate new ones, despite no incentive for fans to do so. The front office recently axed their scouting department to save pennies on the dollar, and they cut benefits to fans as well.
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The general tone-deafness to which the franchise continues to operate couldn’t be more noticeable, and it continues to be met with waning support at the gate.
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