Potential MLB lockout could be another blow for Mpls businesses, fans
The Twins are supposed to be back at Target Field on April 7, but with players and owners unable to reach an agreement, opening day is currently in jeopardy.
MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) - This season the Twins are supposed to be back at Target Field on April 7, but with players and owners unable to reach an agreement, opening day is currently in jeopardy. And it’s not just players and owners who stand to lose out as Major League Baseball’s lockout continues.
"They need to bring baseball back," fan Kari Swan told FOX 9. "We need to get the Twin Cities back, and part of that is bringing baseball."
For most bars and restaurants around Target Field, Minnesota Twins baseball is the bread and butter that keeps business afloat. But this year, with Major League Baseball at an impasse business owners are worried their main draw might not come through.
"You’ve got billionaire owners and millionaire players that can’t figure out how to split up that much money, and the bottom line is that us as fans and small businesses around the stadium suffer," Darby’s Pub & Grill owner Marcus Dorn said.
In the shadow of Target Field, Darby's is coming out of a tough year – COVID-19 restrictions and an underperforming Twins baseball club that limited its fan capacity hurt their bottom line.
Darby’s Pub & Grill owner Marcus Dorn
"It makes you realize how big of a part of your business the Twins are," Dorn said. Going into the 2022 season, he is watching updates on MLB Network throughout the day and hoping for the best. Every year he slugs through slow winter months and then makes up for them during Twins season.
But without the Twins, this year he might have to cut back on his staff.
"Hopefully they get things worked out this year and people come back," Dorn said.
The loss of games also has loyal fans upset, "They need to get their crap together and have a conversation and get real and get it done," Swan said.
She lives downtown, close enough to hear crowds at the stadium from her patio. But right now Swan is disappointed about where things stand,
"I think it’s stupid, I think they should just come together and talk. The Twin Cities needs baseball; baseball needs the Twin Cities. And we will be missing out if we don’t have a baseball season," she said.