MINNEAPOLIS - The Twins’ 2026 attendance slide was steep, but Tom Pohlad says he still sees a path back to stronger ticket sales in 2027 if the club can pair a better team with a more aggressive offseason.
Minnesota finished with 1,733,203 fans, its lowest total in a non-COVID season since 2000 at the Metrodome. That mark was down 25,525 from 2025 and 218,403 from 2024, and Pohlad said the drop was tied in part to a sharp rise in season-ticket cancellations.
He did not give an exact cancellation figure, but he was blunt about the impact.
“Listen, I’ve said that our business is only as good as our performance on the field, and attendance is obviously the No. 1 driver of our business,” said Pohlad. “Yeah, it’s not where we want it to be.
We want to be drawing 2.5 million fans. Our attendance this year is not a surprise to me.”
The Twins tried a wide range of tactics to help offset the erosion in ticket sales during the season. Weekend games featured $2 beer, snacks and hot dogs for all fans.
The team also rolled out new promotions, including its first postgame wrestling show in partnership with AEW. And after a delay pushed back the start of Opening Day by an hour because of a power outage, the Twins handed out tickets to fans who attended that game for the Friday, April 17 meeting with the Cincinnati Reds.
Pohlad said those ideas had value, but not enough to fundamentally change the business.
“I think we did a lot of creative things that resonated with fans, $2 beers and all the things that you guys know about,” he said, “but I’ve said with that: Those are small things that are not going to move the needle. And so our business has room to improve.”
There was at least one encouraging sign on the media side. Pohlad said during Tuesday’s end-of-season press conference that Twins.TV viewership was up 12 to 15 percent. He said part of that bump came after the club promoted top prospects Kaelen Culpepper, Walker Jenkins and Emmanuel Rodriguez for its late push, though the team still fell short before September began.
“It’s my understanding from people in this business, and have been in this business a long time, that that’s a lagging indicator of attendance, and so hopefully that translates next year,” Pohlad said. “And combine that with a better and more competitive team, and I think we’ll grow attendance next year.”
That’s the bet Pohlad and general manager Jeremy Zoll are making as they head into an offseason that could shape the club’s 2027 ticket picture, even with the Opening Day schedule clouded by the incoming MLB lockout. Pohlad said the Twins need to show fans both commitment and competence if they want to rebuild the season-ticket base.
“I’ve been consistent in saying fans want to feel ownership is committed and that they’re competent,” he said. “And those two things come down to investment and winning, and we’ve got an off-season in front of us where we’ve got to prove our commitment, and then we’ve got a season upcoming where we get to prove how competent we are, depending on how we fare next year.”
Pohlad said he does not expect attendance or season-ticket numbers to rebound immediately in 2027, even if the lockout ends before the current March 25 Opening Day date. April crowds, he noted, are always slow to build. He also acknowledged that trust in the ownership group remains low.
He said he understands that reaction, but believes the organization is moving in the right direction and has a chance to win back fans.
“I understand (fans) patience in this market has run out, and I can assure you we have a sense of urgency,” said Pohlad. “The work to build on the foundation we laid this year began (Monday).
“We will assess every part of our organization to get better. We will raise the standard for how we support our players on the field.
And we will exhaust our energy to invest meaningfully in this team. Our goal this offseason is to field a roster next spring where making the playoffs isn’t a hope; it’s the expectation that everybody agrees is realistic.”
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Twins Fans Sent A Clear Message The Team Cant Ignore
The numbers at Target Field told a blunt story this season, and the Twins could not paper over it with giveaways or cheaper ballpark food. Minnesota finished with its lowest full-season attendance at the park, drawing 1,733,203 fans, a drop of 35,525 from a year ago even after the club rolled out promotions designed to make games more appealing and easier on the wallet.
Tom Pohlad has already acknowledged the attendance issues, and the message from the stands is hard to miss: fans want a better product before they fully buy back in. The front office can tweak the experience around the margins, but the real fix, as Pohlad noted, has to come from stronger play on the field if the Twins are going to stop this slide and bring more people back through the gates. [Read more 🡒]