Twins President Dave St. Peter Friday afternoon indicated that the Twins now expect between 36,000 and 37,000 fans for the Saturday afternoon football game Target Field between St. John’s and St. Thomas.

The rivalry game will be the first football tilt at the ballpark.

Patrick Reusse from the Strib wrote a column earlier this week on the game. St. Peter told him that he’d initially tried to get Major League Baseball to change the 10-game road trip on which the team is currently playing.

The League wouldn’t budge. So, the team tracked down this game instead.

Photo credit: Carolyn Meyer, Tommie Media

St. Thomas is the home team. The Tommies received a financial guarantee and a cut of sales for moving the game from St. Paul to Target Field. St. Peter told Reusse his first hope was a crowd of 25,000. Instead, about 12 hours before the 1 p.m. kickoff, suites and group areas are sold out and the game is on pace to obliterate the Division III attendance record for football.

Not a bad way to fill the ballpark during a road trip.

It’s the seventh time this game was played at a neutral site.