November 16, 2010 – Major League Baseball announced back in October that the 30 clubs drew 73,061,781 fans during the 2010 regular season, the sixth highest attendance total in history. Major League Baseball attendance for the regular season was off just four-tenths of one percent (.4%) from the 2009 total of 73,367,659.
The Minnesota Twins eclipsed three million fans for the second time in franchise history and set a new all-time franchise record with a 2010 home attendance of 3,223,640. The previous record of 3,030,672 was set in 1988, the year following the Twins first-ever World Series Championship. During the inaugural season at Target Field, the Twins sold out a franchise-record 79 games (including 78 consecutive). They also drew crowds of 40,000 or more in 22 consecutive games from July 3rd – August 31st, eclipsing the previous mark of seven consecutive games of 40,000 or more fans set from August 10-20, 1988.
The Twins finished with 3,223,640 fans going through the turnstile gates with the third highest attendance in the American League trailing only the New York Yankees with 3,765,807 and the Los Angeles Angels with 3,250,814. This places the Twins sixth overall all in the majors trailing the only Yankees, Phillies, Dodgers, Cardinals, and the Angels. On a percentage of capacity basis in the American League, only the Red Sox with 100.9% of capacity beat the Twins 100.7% of capacity.
On the road however; it was a different story as the Twins drew an average of 27,350 fans (62.6% of capacity) making the Twins the third worst draw in the American League just slightly ahead of the American League pennant winning Texas Rangers with 26,565 and the worst drawing team, the Chicago White Sox who only drew an average of 26,311 fans into opposing stadium seats. You have to wonder why two division winners like the Rangers and the Twins draw so poorly on the road.