The Stadium
This article in the NY Times on the amenities at Turner Field was an interesting inside look at the business of stadium revenue. It might be a good preview of what is to come at the Twins new venue (Best Buy Stadium?). Here's hoping that the Twins remember that baseball is still one of the last big-time sports events that a working-class family can afford. Even at a new stadium there still should be a good amount of seats that are around $10, especially since it is a taxpayer-financed public works project.
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/22/business/yourmoney/22stadium.html?th=&emc=th&pagewanted=al l
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38 comments
Comments
Stdaium Games
Seating is the name of the game. Give people a little -- yes, just a little please -- elbow room, and make it so my knees don't act as a headrest for the patron in front of me.
I liked the old Bill Veeck idea of a picnic area, too. I look at places like Kansas City that have the big open green area and think...why not.
Food, overall, should improve. Yet how much can you bring to your seat. Amazing how people balance so much that is worth so lttle in minute lap trays.
My still favorite is people walking with full beer cups and getting mad when it spills. Hey, take a few sips before you go on the move.
Price will always be a factor. Most of us will be priced out during the first few seasons at the new stadium in Minnesota, I'm sure, unless the team really sucks.
I looked into getting a small season ticket package this year, or even the flex plan...but I absically do better when I rotate where I wish to see games, utilize those twofers that happen so often during the week, not to mention other specials. And if I do wish expensive seats, I can usually purchase them on the grounds before a mid-week game for below cost.
But, yes, all good things will come to an end.
By the way, would a roof help? Does it save on maintenance cost (think of all that snow eating away at the unused stadium in the winter). Seems so fitting to have somesort of roof, just so you can use the facility year round. And look at the current playoffs and World Series. Hey, we had snow in Minnesota Sunday evening.
Call me weather spoiled, but....
And living around a stadium. I wonder. Currently residing in St. Paul, there was once talk about plopping the stadium into our artistic lowertown area...but I can only imagine the joy of parking and having 20,000-40,000 people walking by my condo x-amount of nights during the year. Whew!
And, yes -- $10 seats...but please, not third deck nosebleeds. Nice open bleachers (I'll accept benches).
by twintown on Oct 23, 2006 12:00 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs
Personally
by wcooley on Oct 23, 2006 3:36 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
I'd disagree with Staples...
by djskilbr on Oct 23, 2006 4:56 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
Expect the new park...
Would we rather have a ballpark that's named after a dead guy and no Johan Santana or a ballpark that's named after a company where we can see Johan Santana pitch? I'd choose Santana, but that's just me, I guess.
by ubelmann on Oct 23, 2006 5:14 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs
Wholeheartedly agree Ubelmann
As long as it helps us win, that's the bottomline. I can live with a section of the Stadium being named for Kirby.
by djskilbr on Oct 23, 2006 6:18 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
I still
by FrozenTed9 on Oct 23, 2006 7:09 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
Unfiroms.....
And, hey, maybe the Twins could pulloff a return to WCCO radio someday and have all games start at 8:30.
by twintown on Oct 24, 2006 1:47 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
Corporate Baseball
by SDTwinsFan on Oct 23, 2006 7:28 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs
I imagine...
If enough people think it's important enough to name it after something respectable, maybe they should save their pennies and try to buy the naming rights themselves. (While this is a somewhat ludicrous suggestion, assuming he gets run out of town, could you imagine Alex Rodriguez winning the bidding war for naming rights to the new Yankee Stadium just to spite the Yankees? Now that would be high comedy.)
Baseball has a long and distinguished tradition of advertising and of owners trying to scratch and claw for every bit of revenue they can muster. It's not a case of the game getting worse over time--it's a case of the game continuing to be what it's always been.
by ubelmann on Oct 23, 2006 9:47 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
Correction
by AdamOnFirst on Oct 23, 2006 9:55 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
Honor the State
by GACTwinFan on Oct 24, 2006 2:05 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
Naming from a local company
by Chaddens on Oct 24, 2006 3:23 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
Stadium Thoughts
-Pitchers park. Yes I understand that the current stadium is a pretty neutral park, on the other hand I think it benefits right handed pull hitters a bit much. Why was the plexi-glass taken down in the first place? In my opinion that should go back up.
-Personally one of my favorite spots in the Metrodome is the upperdeck above the bleachers in right field. It's a good view for everything but the right fielder, I hope they can replicate this section in the new stadium.
by caseintheface on Oct 23, 2006 9:43 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs
I hope
by AdamOnFirst on Oct 23, 2006 9:56 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs
Clarifications
Two thirds of the cost of the stadium will be paid for by taxpayers in Hennepin County as an investment that the county hopes to use to increase tax revenues. Though it will be paid for by the people, it will pay the people of the county back about double what they invest. This is a conservative estimate: it could pay more, it will not likely pay less. How does this happen? Well, the county borrows the money and pays it back with sales taxes. The money it gathers through additional revenue generated through property and sales taxes levied in the stadium and surrounding development will likely be twice what it pays in interest and principal on the debt. This income will help the county offer its citizens better roads, schools, hospitals, fire departments and police than it could provide without the investment.
I am not a resident of Hennepin County, so I neither invest my taxes in the stadium nor do I reap the rewards of the development. As a resident of the state, I'm dumbfounded as to why the state didn't want a piece of the action. But whatever, the bigger the risk the bigger the rewards. And the state is risk averse under this governor. But I see no injustice for either the residents of Hennepin County nor the state for the deal that was struck. And given the way the Pohlads invest their meager revenues in the current product (they will turn a profit this year for the first time since 1992), I hope they make gobs of money in the new park so we can hang onto Santana, Mauer, and Morneau until they retire and are subsequently enshirined in the Hall of Fame.
by cmathewson on Oct 23, 2006 10:35 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs
I know what you mean
by wcooley on Oct 24, 2006 3:07 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
Silly
A main reason was to not get the stadium was always, "Carl Pohlad will make too much money." yeah, so? So what how much money he has if we improve ourselves as well.
by AdamOnFirst on Oct 25, 2006 2:40 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
Yes
Is it possible that Adamonfirst is actually Adam Smith?
by wcooley on Oct 25, 2006 9:37 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
why
by firstatbat61 on Oct 25, 2006 10:44 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
So the answer was "contract the team"?
"The" condition for the team remaining in Minnesota was building a stadium which improved the team's financial picture. There was no "keep the team but screw the owner" option on the table.
The idea that denying the team a new stadium would somehow hurt Pohlad was always laughable. If that happened, if the stadium had gone down to defeat again, then Pohlad would either move or sell the team or MLB would buy him out and contract the team.
No matter what, Pohlad would not be hurting - he'd get a stadium with a better revenue stream somewhere else, or he'd get bought out at a price significantly higher than what he paid (either by new ownership or by MLB to contract the team).
Meanwhile, Twins fans would most likely find themselves without a team to root on (buyers willing to step into a poor revenue stream being hard to find).
But we sure would've shown Pohlad .....
by BD57 on Oct 31, 2006 4:29 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs
Ideas
Anyway, have stuff to do around the park. Make it a fun area to hang out after work. Have a lot of bars, restaurants, shopping etc. nearby like what the Cubs do. Having one bar and a big hospital just wasn't ideal.
Advertise towards college kids. This has been a problem with me for years going to the dome. It's so geared towards families with blonde kids. I love kids, but they don't pay attention to the game and they get annoying if they're not yours and their attention span has run out. There are a lot of colleges around the TC, I keep hearing the same thing out of them, they'd rather go to a Saints game. The Twins don't even bother to advertise to them at all. Continue to advertise to families, but get the 18-24 involved. They'll fill the cheap seats up.
I agree with Ubelmann. If Hormel, General Mills or 3M is going to keep Johan signed till he's 34, do it.
by TheMattWilke on Oct 23, 2006 10:59 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs
There's one problem with college kids...
Families with middle-aged business-class parents --> $$$$$
College students --> $$
Or something like that.
In a new park, at least at first, they probably won't have trouble selling tickets, so I don't see them gearing anything more towards college kids. And getting kids to games when they're even younger helps ensure that they want to come when they get to college. (Sort of a farm system of fans.)
Of course, when they were getting 4-digit attendance figures, and they have empty seats in the dome, I think you have a point. Because $$ might be worse than $$$$$ but it's better than 0.
There are a lot of colleges around the TC, I keep hearing the same thing out of them, they'd rather go to a Saints game.
This actually makes it really easy to spot who likes baseball and who wants an outdoor venue to consume alcohol in public. Not the most important information in the world to have, but it can come in handy.
by ubelmann on Oct 23, 2006 11:41 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
YEah
As a college kid, i understand why I'm not much of a target market. As a 17 year old, everyone wants a piece opf your action. You've got all kinds of disposable money lying around. you get to school and you've got none and nobody wants your bussiness specifically until you are 25 and maybe start making some cash.
Good thing we are sandwhiched in between to we still get good stuff...
by AdamOnFirst on Oct 24, 2006 1:27 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
Kids
I don't like kids, and I was amazed when I went to a Iowa Cubs game this year that they had basically made the stadium into a day care center. All that was lacking was the shitty diapers and graham crackers.
by wcooley on Oct 24, 2006 10:59 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
$6
by TheMattWilke on Oct 24, 2006 1:22 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
Yes, market more.....
And the fact is, baseball does cater to the occasional fan.
I look at season ticket packages and wonder...how can I...not afford...but attend those games, or split with someone else and still attend those games.
Also, you NEED to get kids there and involved, and keep it kid friendly AND family friendly. These are your customers of the future...be it in Minnesota or elsewhere. The college crowd is the good-time crowd and probably pay even less attention to a game that a group of 8-year-olds, at times. Plus, they go abck to wherever they originally came from, or move to New York or Los Angeles, and have no TWINS PRIDE!
by twintown on Oct 24, 2006 1:43 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
In a good spot
I think Best Buy Center will do the same for near north as Target did for the Warehouse district. And they will be connected by a walkway and parking ramps. So their will be bars and restaurants galore around that complex. Plus a mall and luxury townhomes all over the place. It's the last remaining slice of land on that side of town yet to be developed. It will be fun to go to the Loon or Old Chicago or Glueks or any number of new places nearby for a celebratory brewsky after a Santana victory in 2014.
by cmathewson on Oct 23, 2006 11:18 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs
I don't see it
I don't see the stadium contributing to any development that wasn't already there or in progress.
by dwintheiser on Oct 31, 2006 3:33 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs
Near north
by cmathewson on Oct 31, 2006 3:59 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs
More ideas
http://www.startribune.com/509/story/762116.html
by wcooley on Oct 24, 2006 10:56 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs
Unique.....
I doubt that the Pohlads will waste space like they do in Kansas City with waterfalls where they can put seats. And I picture that the surrounding area is so tight that an amusement park and other Twins-based activities may be few and far between.
Also, because it is a baseball-only stadium, what happens the other usable 80 nights a year (considering the Twins will play from snowfall to snowfall.)
I still marvel that anyone would like to invest x-amount of dollars into something that will be beat to hell by the weather half-the-year.
by twintown on Oct 24, 2006 1:46 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
Not to be mean...
by caseintheface on Oct 24, 2006 12:48 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs
Silliness
The best parks don't have gimmicky stuff. Houston is a tiny little box with a ridiculous train that runs around, and it is stupid. The tigers have all their silly concrete Tigers everywhere.
My entire family has lived in Minnesota their entire lives, and most of them have rarely, if ever polka danced. I've never done it. I don't want somethign in our stadium that's going to just end up becoming an annoying national joke.
Charm, simplicity, baseball. Maybe something simple and pretty like Kauffman's fountains. Nothing ridiculous or harboring of untrue Minnesota stereotypes.
And pitcher's park.
by AdamOnFirst on Oct 24, 2006 2:12 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs
Addemdum
by AdamOnFirst on Oct 24, 2006 2:14 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
Probably a train
The other strange item is using wastewater recovered from the garbage burner to heat the field and the floor in front of the seats. That isn't such a strange proposition, believe it or not. It's like a giant Wersbo system that circulates the water through all the floors fo the stadium instead of using cooling towers.
by cmathewson on Oct 24, 2006 3:04 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
the double bang
by firstatbat61 on Oct 24, 2006 11:52 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs
Ikea Park!
by MNPundit on Oct 26, 2006 6:12 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs
in my opinion
by Pilargarza on Jan 17, 2007 1:30 AM EST reply actions 0 recs

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