Tickets to see the Minnesota Twins are on a downward slide on the secondary ticket market, due in part to the team struggling with a 12-27 record as of today, May 17.
The average cost of a Twins ticket on the secondary market today is $50, down from $58, according to ticket search engine SeatGeek. And, average prices are expected to drop even further to $45 when the team hosts the almost-as-disappointing Seattle Mariners next week.
The team’s current nine-game losing streak is playing a factor in the decrease in interest of tickets on the secondary market, as is the absence of all-star catcher Joe Mauer who is on the disabled list with leg problems. In addition, despite the team only playing its second season at Target Field, the outdoor stadium has lent itself to cold and rainy conditions, which have also helped to drop secondary sales.
“With the unusually cool and rainy weather we’ve had since the season started, coupled with the Twins record so far this year, it’s definitely been a struggle,” Cortney Storsved, director of operations for Minneapolis-based ticket broker Ticket King, told TicketNews.
Specific sales information was not available, but Storsved added that compared to last year, when going to the new ballpark was a must-do experience for fans, “selling Twins tickets this season is a completely different experience.”
The Twins are currently on the road, but they return to Target Field on May 23 against the Mariners, and on StubHub, for example, there were more than 2,300 tickets available for that game with prices starting at $8. On the next night, May 24 also against Seattle, there were more than 2,600 tickets available starting at $7 each.
“The team just hasn’t been able to meet the fans expectations in terms of their level of play this year,” Storsved said.
Cold, rainy weather in April and May has hurt attendance for teams throughout the league, not just the Twins. According to MarketWatch, even the New York Yankees, which traditionally is the leading draw in baseball, is seeing a decrease in its average secondary prices by 10 percent to 20 percent.
The reason for the drop is not just the weather. A saturation of tickets on the secondary market is also hurting sales as savvy fans search for, and find, huge bargains for tickets. Increasingly, fans are waiting until the last minute to buy, which is also negatively affecting some teams’ primary ticket sales.
That does not appear to be the case with the Twins, as year-to-year sales by the team have remained largely unchanged. The team instituted a dynamic pricing program this season, prompting some brokers to complain that the team stripped them of some of their tickets for the effort, a charge the team has denied.
A Twins spokesperson did not reply to a message seeking comment.
Ben Kessler, director of communications for SeatGeek, told TicketNews that despite the team’s current secondary ticket woes, there appear to be some bright spots on the horizon. “Although the Twins have seen a nine game losing streak, and there has been a dip in prices for recent home games against the Tigers and Blue Jays, we’re seeing an increase in price in the coming weeks for some more exciting match ups,” Kessler said, referring to ticket prices for the team’s games against the Los Angeles Angels and Texas Rangers averaging $61 and $65, respectively.
