Inside The Twins

It took just one series for poor Twins attendance to become a storyline

The Twins had fewer than 15,000 fans at Target Field on a sunny Sunday afternoon.

Will Ragatz

Apr 3, 2025; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; The scoreboard displays the Opening Day logo for Minnesota Twins Home Opener before a game against the Houston Astros at Target Field.
Apr 3, 2025; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; The scoreboard displays the Opening Day logo for Minnesota Twins Home Opener before a game against the Houston Astros at Target Field. / Nick Wosika-Imagn Images
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Sunday afternoon's rubber match against the Astros was the third Twins home game of the year at Target Field. It was a sunny day with temperatures in the high 50s — nice weather for early April in Minneapolis. After a slow start to the season, the Twins had won three of their previous four games and were hoping to finish off another series victory.

And less than 15,000 fans showed up to a ballpark that seats over 39,000 at peak capacity. Those in attendance got to watch as the Twins built an early 7-1 lead and then blew it and lost in ten innings.

After drawing nearly 37,000 fans for the home opener on Thursday — not a sellout, but at least close to one — the Twins had 16,082 in attendance on Saturday and 14,638 on Sunday. Notably, that Sunday figure is lower than all but six home games last season (four of which came in April).

Relatively low attendance for April games in Minnesota is not an unprecedented occurrence. But a dip below 15K in the third home game of the year is absolutely notable, especially considering the weather wasn't an issue. It looks like the continuation of a trend from late last season when the Twins' playoff hopes were on the line.

Given the team's late-season collapse last fall, an inactive offseason, and an ownership situation that remains in flux — all things we covered before the season in a story on interest in the Twins seeming to be lower than usual — it's going to be intriguing to track attendance throughout the year. Are fans already apathetic about a team that's off to a 3-6 start? Were they apathetic before the season even began?

The 22,501 fans the Twins averaged during the Astros series ranks 24th out of the 29 teams that have played at least one home game so far (Cleveland is finally having its home opener on Tuesday). Really, it's 24th out of 27 teams in MLB ballparks, as the Athletics and Rays are playing their home games this season in minor-league parks with capacities below 15K. The others below the Twins are the Royals, White Sox, and Marlins.

That can't be an encouraging sign for team officials, who are hoping to draw 2 million fans at Target Field this season for the first time since 2019 — a pursuit that is off to a very poor start.

Following a four-game series in Kansas City that starts on Monday, the Twins will be back in Minneapolis against the Tigers this weekend, with pleasant weather on the early forecast. It'll be very interesting to see what the attendance numbers look like for that series.

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Will Ragatz
WILL RAGATZ

Will Ragatz is a senior writer for Vikings On SI. He is a credentialed Minnesota Vikings beat reporter, covering the team extensively at practices, games and throughout the NFL draft and free agency period. Ragatz attended Northwestern University, where he studied at the prestigious Medill School of Journalism. During his time as a student, he covered Northwestern Wildcats football and basketball for SB Nation’s Inside NU, eventually serving as co-editor-in-chief in his junior year. In the fall of 2018, Will interned in Sports Illustrated’s newsroom in New York City, where he wrote articles on Major League Baseball, college football, and college basketball for SI.com.

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