MINNEAPOLIS – The Timberwolves launched their season-ticket renewal drive Wednesday, which will end on Feb. 18. New fans interested in purchasing season tickets may do so beginning in early March, with March 4 being the tentative start date.
The most noteworthy feature of this year's ticket campaign is the 10 percent playoff discount the team has built in. Although the idea was conceived of before Kevin Love's second hand injury and the team's current four-game skid, the Timberwolves are sticking with it, pledging to put money on the line if the team does not earn a postseason berth. Here's how it works: Anyone who renews or purchases new season tickets this spring for next season will receive 10 percent back, either deducted from his or her final payment or in a refund if he or she pays in full, if the team does not make the playoffs. The season-ticket campaign runs until the end of the regular season, and even if someone were to purchase a package after the team is mathematically eliminated from the playoffs (if such a situation were to arise), he or she would still earn the discount.
This year's pricing includes increases in price for 11 of 17 seating areas. Two price tiers, the cheapest and second-cheapest, will actually see price reductions, and four price tiers will remain unchanged. The largest price increase, 21.7 percent, comes in the Treasure Island VIP Terrance, where rebranding and amenities have forced an uptick in the cost.
The most expensive seats in the Lexus Courtside area will retail at $1,395 per game next season, up from $1,380 this year. That's good for a $645 increase in that season-ticket package. The cheapest seats have diminished in price from $6 to $4, making that ticket package $86 cheaper next season.
The Timberwolves are also including new membership levels to go along with season-ticket packages. The levels, which range from the President's Club (the most exclusive) to the Gold level (least exclusive), correspond with seating areas but not directly; other factors come into play when determining each membership level.
This year's pricing effectively erases all of the discounts put into place for the past three seasons (some fans have seen flat pricing since the 2010-11 season), but the Timberwolves will remain among the five cheapest teams in terms of average season-ticket price next season. Right now, they have the lowest average season-ticket price of any team in the NBA.
Even with the price increases, Target Center will still boast 1,000 lower-level season tickets priced as low as $20 per game and 6,700 upper-level tickets priced at $7 or less per game, including 2,000 that will cost only $4 per game.
In determining their new pricing tiers, the Timberwolves relied heavily on analytics from the NBA and data from secondary markets, which has become a trend among teams in the past three or so seasons. The team stressed that by leaving some pricing levels constant and decreasing others, it is pledged to remaining an affordable option for fans who have become accustomed to the inexpensive upper-bowl options.
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