UPDATE: 2010 Availability - Field Box Seats Remain for Target Field

Original Post 1/6/10 - Updated numbers 1/27/10:

Our group has 3 sets of seats in Target Field - all in blocks of 4.  See the original post for a description of all the seats, but right now, we only have availability in one section - Field Box.  If you get into the group this season, you will be able to get seats in the other sections in future seasons and it's possible that there will be some shifting around that opens up some this year.

Prices listed are season-ticket package prices, which in the Dome were $5-10 below face value.  You will save money by purchasing into the group.

Current availability (1/27/10): 55 Tickets     31 tickets
You can request them in groups of 2s or 4s for games.
We pick actual games in March - just need total number of tickets now.

Master seating chart - and see photo below in the Sept. 2 posting.

Field Box Seats

$29 each
Section 103, Row 7, Seats 21-24
On the aisle closest to home plate
Right field line - faces the video scoreboard.  In the sun for early afternoon during mid-summer.
3-D View simulation from the seats


Just across the aisle, tickets in "Diamond Box" cost $38
Here we're 7 rows from the field down the right field line. The seats are turned toward the infield.

99 Days

Thanks to the Twins Calendar from Fan Appreciation Weekend and the handy "Countdown to Target Field" on each day, we're 99 days away from Boston vs. Minnesota.

So, time to deal with 2 things:

Remaining Tickets:
There are still some open tickets: 6 Legends Club seats ($55) and 67 55 Field Box tickets ($29 each).  I'll probably put another ad up on Craigslist soon, but I'd rather go through the current group:

• Do you want more tickets?
• Do you have friends/family who would like to join?
• Do you want to buy extras as an "investment"?

Contact me for details.

Game Selection:
See the posting below from 11/26 about getting together in person to pick games in March.  There's a poll over on the right side of this blog that lets you answer "Yes/No/Maybe" if you think you would participate.  I'm definitely leaning toward "Yes."  If there appears to be enough interest, I'll start working on setting up a date/location later in January.  We're probably looking at either the weekend of March 19-21 or March 26-28.  If you already have a preference, let me know (though I'll probably end up asking again).

Note: If we do it live and you aren't interested in attending or can't make it, that's not a problem - you can just submit a list of desired games to me and I'll handle it as we've always done it.  The benefit of attending would be to make adjustments on the fly when your original choices get filled by someone else first.

Live Game Selection? Making Sausage...

In the past, I've collected game requests, compiled them, and sat down over a weekend to dole out the results and that's worked pretty well.

This year - with more people and the added complication of different seat locations, this is starting to look a lot harder.  The initial choices aren't so bad, but there's a whole new level on moving to alternates (is the seat location more important or the game date?).

I'm contemplating trying to organize a gathering for seat selection to allow you to request and adjust on the fly - and to save me from making those types of decisions.  I'm thinking maybe a Saturday in March (maybe the 2nd week of the NCAAs so there's something on the tube too) - and have started scouting around for places with a meeting room (my place definitely won't hold us) - I've already found at least one that's free.

There's a little bit of "do you really want to see how the sausage is made?" aspect to this...like when people are flexible on dates, they might get shifted around a little bit after I first put them into a game to help me fit everything in later on...or when someone says "that Sat. night is my kid's birthday" they might get a little "help" in getting that date.  But if you're up for sitting around for...I have no idea how long this will take...it might be fun.

For now, I've posted a poll on the blog - look in the upper right corner.  Instead of replying to me on this via email, vote Yes/No/Maybe on the poll to give me a feel for what people want to do.  You can add any comments or suggestions to this blog post too to give me some ideas.

Exhibition Games at Target Field

There are 2 exhibition games on April 2 & 3 vs. St. Louis that were "included" in our season ticket plan.

"Included?"
"Wow," I thought, "we got something as a bonus!"

Not so fast...I finally figured out that the invoice totals didn't quite match what I had been expecting.  They aren't free (but they're 8-10 bucks cheaper than normal).

The official home opener is spoken for already...but these tickets will go up for grabs in a random draw sometime over the winter.  I'll be in touch with more details when the time comes.

Video: Tour of Target Field

I'm sure there's more of these on the way, but MPR put up a "Walking Tour of Target Field" on their news site - and it's fun to start seeing some real pictures rather than just artists' renditions.

A walking tour of Target Field - MPR NewsQ - 11/13/09

Current Ticket Availability - 2010

As of 11/13/09, Estimated ticket availability for 2010:
(See the post on Seat Locations for more details about each section)

Field Box: 65 tickets

Legends Club and Diamond Box- we may have a few tickets left in each section, depending on when you join.

These are now pretty solid numbers as everyone has confirmed or modified their estimates from spring and summer.  As the longer-term members finalize their choices, that may affect how many tickets are available in a given section for newer people.  See Seniority below.

If you're looking to join the group, what we do is have you commit to a number of tickets now (and how many in each price range if that's pertinent).  We then pick games in March and at that time you can break your requests into whether you want 2 or 4 tickets per game.  So just deal with total tickets right now.

Our first payment is going in on Nov 13.  Full payment is due in early December...but if you're just joining the group, something ASAP or even a partial payment is great.

Payment Due This Week

Our first payment is due with the Twins on Friday...I need a bit of lead time before that.

I emailed my address if you want to mail a check - or you can drop off to me - or send to me via PayPal (address: jon.swanson@earthlink.net).  Again, if you choose to use a credit card on PayPal, you must pick up the transaction fee (3% I think).

You don't need to pay the full bill - that's due in December...and if you need to spread it out even further than that please let me know.

Payment Coming Due

So much for a "deposit"...

Finally received the renewal information yesterday and the real option is either full payment by November 13 or half on November 13 and half on December 11.

There is a 5-month plan that I might check into...but this would be more to reduce the amount due in November and to allow for selling the final 120 or so Field Box tickets.

Assume that I'm going to need payment from you as soon as possible.  I'm going to check into the details of the 5-month plan in addition to finding out if they are truly serious about a 2-week notice for coming up with $11,000 (that's the 1/2 payment).

2010 Target Field Seating

Three different seat locations in 2010 - See the links below for seating charts and 3-D representations of what the view will be like from the seats.

Prices listed are season-ticket package prices, which in the Dome were $5-10 below face value.

Master seating chart - and see photo below in the Sept. 2 posting.

Estimated availability by seating area.

Field Box Seats - This is what's still open

$29 each
Section 103, Row 7, Seats 21-24
On the aisle closest to home plate
Right field line - faces the video scoreboard.  In the sun for early afternoon during mid-summer.
3-D View

Just across the aisle, tickets in "Diamond Box" cost $38
Here we're 7 rows from the field down the right field line. The seats are turned toward the infield.

For the next 2 sections, we have limited or no availability for new members to the group (joining in November 2009 and later).  While we pick games on a random basis, the priority for number of seats available goes by seniority in the group.  But get in now and there is future opportunity.

Legends Club
All tickets include access to the club amenities for that game.
Price: $55 each
Section G, Row 5, Seats 14-17
On the aisle closest to home plate
3-D View

Diamond Box Seats
$38 each
Section 121, Row 3, Seats 1-4
On the aisle closest to home plate - on the 3rd base line.
Direct view of the downtown skyline - in the sun for all afternoon games.
3-D View
Just across the aisle, tickets in "Home Plate Box" cost $50
The section in front of us is Section 15 - "Dugout Box" seats that cost $69 each
Section 15 has 15 rows...then there's a dividing wall, then we're in Row 3 of the next section.  So consider this maybe about 20 rows from the field.

Season Ticket Seniority List

This has never really been an issue since there are typically enough tickets each season, but in the event we run out of available tickets - or fill up a particular seating option - we'll resolve it via seniority in the group - based on the year you joined (and when in that year I added you to the list).  A similar situation might occur with playoff tickets, since we have to buy them in full strips, so we might have to cut off at a certain point.

At this point, based on early/updated estimates, we have enough Legends Club seats to get down through Aaron Brack in the 2010 group...but as numbers turn from estimates to final counts this fall, it's possible that more (or fewer) will actually be available.  We're also starting to run low on Diamond Box seats.

This doesn't affect game choice.  We randomly pick games with the highest chance of being picked going to the people who buy the most tickets.  (One exception - the 2010 Season Opener)

Where do you rank?  Here's the list:
2001
Me
John S.
Tom (he's getting a separate 20-game plan this year in accessible seating).

2002
Jacob
Art
Roger
Kate
Virginia

2004
Linda
Tracey
Andy A.
Ray

2005
Andy M.
Mike F.
Dennis
Jon T.

2006
Dave
Sandy

2008
Bart

2009
Jamie

2010
Steve R.
Aaron
Scott H.
Scott S./Dan K.
Clint
Mike B. 
Steve H.
Josh
Jeremy
Alan