Twins finally land sponsor for advertising patch on their uniforms: Securian Financial

DENVER – The roster is the same and the lineup will probably look no different, either. But the Twins will have a new look when they open the second half of the season Friday night at Coors Field.

It’s on their uniforms.

A patch bearing the name and logo of St. Paul-based Securian Financial will adorn a sleeve on the jersey of each Twins player, coach and manager, the team announced Thursday. Two and a half years after MLB gave its teams the go-ahead to sell advertising space on their most visible real estate — the players themselves — the Twins have finally found a partner willing to meet their price.

With the Nationals (who struck a deal with AARP) and the Rockies (York Space Systems) adding jersey patches earlier this month, the Twins’ contract with Securian Financial leaves only the Chicago White Sox and Tampa Bay Rays without a sponsorship deal on their uniforms.

What took so long for the Twins to tap into the sport’s new revenue stream? Safe to say, the Twins likely held out for a deal commensurate with their market size. The Twins and Securian did not reveal the terms of their agreement, other than it’s a multi-year partnership. But the San Diego Padres, in a market marginally smaller than the Twin Cities’ 3.7 million people, are being paid a reported $10 million per season by Motorola to wear the smartphone maker’s logo on their sleeves.

Other fees reportedly range from the Marlins’ $5 million-per-season deal with home security company ADT, to the Yankees’ unconfirmed $25 million income from Starr Insurance.

But the yearslong matchmaking process in Minnesota was about more than money, according to Sean Moore, the Twins’ chief revenue officer.

“Finding the right partner for our first jersey patch wasn’t about speed. It was about alignment,” Moore said. “We sought a brand that shares our values, has deep local roots and resonates with our community,” qualities that the parent company of, for instance, Minnesota Life Insurance Company, clearly meets, he said.

“At the same time, we prioritized a partner with a national presence,” Moore said, “to fully capitalize on the visibility the MLB season provides.”

That resonated with Securian, which struck its first sponsorship deal with the Twins in 2017.

“We’re proud of our Minnesota roots, and even prouder to grow with a brand as respected and beloved as the Twins,” Chris Hilger, chair and CEO of the insurance, retirement and financial services company, said in a statement. “This partnership is more than a logo — it’s a symbol of shared values, bold ambition, and the belief that what we build together can resonate well beyond the field.”

It will be hard to beat that visibility, though. Securian’s two-shades-of-green logo stands out on the Twins’ five different uniform jerseys, with a white background on the Twins’ home whites, road darks, and City Connect blues, and a blue background on the road grays and “Twin Cities” cream-colored jerseys.

The patches won’t be on the same sleeve for every player, either. Righthanded hitters will wear the Securian logo on their left sleeves, and lefthanded hitters will do the opposite. The reason: So the ad patch faces the pitcher, and thus the centerfield cameras normally used on MLB broadcasts.

No word yet on which side switch-hitters Willi Castro and Brooks Lee will wear the patch.

Fans won’t be left out, either. Beginning next spring, the Twins said, high-end jerseys sold in their New Era team stores will include the Securian Financial patch.

Such partnerships are increasingly important to franchises like the Twins, whose cable-television revenue streams have been disrupted by the growth of streaming broadcasts and the bankruptcy of Diamond Sports Group, owner of the FanDuel Sports Networks.

Since Moore joined the Twins in 2022 as vice president of brand partnerships, the Twins have increased revenue from such contracts — for ballpark signage, commercial time on Twins.tv broadcasts, a variety of fan giveaways and other sources — by nearly half, helping to recoup a sizable portion of the $54 million that Diamond once paid the Twins annually.

And, in a bit of serendipity, much of that increase has come from potential sponsors identified by the jersey-patch negotiations. Securian chief among them, of course — and the new agreement includes “a prominent Securian Financial presence at Target Field and across Twins television and radio broadcasts,” the announcement said, with plans for even more in the future.