Minnesota Twins Tickets Killed My Paycheck

Last year was the first year the Minnesota Twins played at the new Target Field. It must’ve been so exciting for everyone who was able to go that first year! Unfortunately, we weren’t one of those families.The 3 years before the new stadium opened I would take my oldest son to one baseball game every year for his birthday. That’s all I could afford. The Twins had the best deal with Kemps Ice Cream for families. I think most Sundays were Kemps Family Days. They would do different freebies on those Sundays and promoted literacy. Buddy and I would go when they were giving away a jersey or a baseball bat and a book.

You know how much it cost to get in? $20 You know what that included? Tickets in certain seats for 3 people! Yes, you read that right, THREE people. All I had to do was pay for one adult ticket and 2 kids 12/13 and under could get in free! Spectacular and affordable.

Last year I called to get tickets and find out about their promotional prices. Guess what? They didn’t have them anymore. WHAT? Maybe the ticket prices wouldn’t be so bad, right? How about not? Getting into Target Field with three people was going to cost me upwards of $90. NINETY stinkin’ dollars.

How in the world are families in this economy supposed to be able to afford this? How am I supposed to take my boys to see one game a year when it costs me half of my weekly paycheck? I’m a single mom. This economy sucks, at least for some people.

Guess who isn’t suffering during this economy? The athletes. The new stadium is open, and the players are raking in the money. Joe Mauer, who hasn’t even been playing because of a health issue signed a contract just over a year ago for $184 million dollars for 8 yrs. Nice. He could afford to go to the Target Field and watch a game.

Joe Mauer makes $184 million dollars and I can’t even afford to take my boys to go see a professional baseball game. Minnesota built a beautiful award winning stadium and I don’t have the meager resources to share that experience with my boys.

I just can’t wrap my mind around how these athletes, owners, managers can make so much money and then justify having seats so high priced that the average Joe Shmoe family can’t even enjoy a live game. We’ve never been to a Vikings game either.

It’s such a shame that what are American past times are so financially out of reach for so many families. Why is that? Where does it stop? How high are these players contracts going to go that it’s $100 for a nosebleed seat?

When we went to the Metrodome to watch them play, we’d be 3-4 rows up from the Outfield. We could’ve touched Denard Span. It was amazing. We loved being able to go to the game for his birthday. I would let him pick a friend to take with him each year. Here’s our last time at the Metrodome and meeting Denard Span in 2009. The year before this we took a neighbor kid, and the one before that another of Buddy’s classmates.This year I am asking my mom for tickets to go to a game for the boys birthdays which are next month. We’re going on the 12th, right between their birthdays. We’ll be getting Valencia jerseys and sitting pretty much up where we can touch any flock birds flying by. Unfortunately, the tickets, after fees were about $28/ea. All I can do is shake my head. I don’t know when we’ll be able to go to another game. Might be a couple years unless they make it more affordable for us regular people.

Am I the only one who thinks sport ticket prices have become unreasonable? How are families supposed to enjoy a game in person when it can cost almost as much as a paycheck?