jg2112

August 6th, 2009 at 7:56 AM ^

The home locker room is 60 yards long.

The scoreboard is the 3rd largest in the country, behind Texas and the Cowboys.

I can't wait for September 12th in the stadium. FWIW, TCF Bank Stadium is being called "The Vault." Take that.

Nick Sparks

August 6th, 2009 at 8:54 AM ^

There's a lot of history in that program and I personally think it would be great to see them gain some national relevence again; not just so we'll have some sweet jug matchups with B10 title implications but for the strength of the conference as a whole.

I think the stadium's a great start.

PS: I don't know about you, but that picture of the sink is the one that really did it for me.

pz

August 6th, 2009 at 8:58 AM ^

Looks fantastic.

I work in Minneapolis, and am lucky enough to get into the corporate suites around town from time to time, and they really do it right around here. They really nail the northern / lodge theme, and this really reminds me of the Xcel center (MN Wild hockey) in a very good way.

From these pictures, TCF looks much more like a pro venue than college, which is okay, but lacks a lot of that sense of history that I love about college venues.

Good for them though - anything would have been better than the dome, but a beautiful on-campus venue is a big win for the gophs.

pz

August 6th, 2009 at 9:21 AM ^

I work for General Mills, and there are always a lot of tickets floating around the building because the company supports a lot of local athletics, so I get to a fair share of local games. We'll see how it goes with the new stadium, but I'm optimistic.

I'm actually just here for the summer right now before returning to Chicago to finish the 2nd year of my MBA, so maybe by next summer/fall when I return the demand will have eased a bit.

jg2112

August 6th, 2009 at 9:27 AM ^

congratulations. I work at Thomson Reuters in Eagan. Lots of good workplaces in the Twin Cities. We also have the executive boxes in every stadium. It's a nice perk.

Demand in 2010 will not cool for TCF. The home schedule includes USC, Penn State, Ohio State and Iowa. Tickets will remain tough to get.

pz

August 6th, 2009 at 9:39 AM ^

Luckily, one of my best friends manages the Wheaties business... and the relationship with ESPN, so a fortuitous connection.

Think he's hooked up the ESPN box for the MN/Cal game this fall.

Shameless plug, check out wheaties.com because they've got a pretty cool new project underway.

Boo-erns

August 6th, 2009 at 9:04 AM ^

I lived right next to the stadium last summer. It is really, really nice. It also has a great view of the MPLS skiline through the gap for the scoreboard.

I can't wait to see us break into the vault and leave with the jug.

samsoccer7

August 6th, 2009 at 9:19 AM ^

The "View from the President's Suite" (about 10 pictures down) is not so great for watching the game :) Hopefully this has been addressed, or will be by the far the largest oversight.

MGoBlue22

August 6th, 2009 at 9:25 AM ^

From the article:

"Thanks to an anonymous donor stepping up, a $500,000 brick wall was added around the field as a last-minute addition and has nearly been completed."

A $500,000 brick wall? Does anyone know what the total cost to construct the stadium was?

jmblue

August 6th, 2009 at 1:42 PM ^

I know the Twins are also getting a new stadium. Are the Vikings going to stay put? (You'd hope that one of the three tenants could manage in a stadium that isn't that old to begin with.)

jg2112

August 6th, 2009 at 2:03 PM ^

on the Metrodome is up in 2011.

The Vikings have looked around for numerous partners to build a stadium, and the owners still are asking for about half a billion for stadium help from the Legislature.

Minnesota just plugged a $4.5 billion deficit through our governor line-iteming items out of the budget. Next year our budget will likely be worse. Although building stadiums creates jobs, pays wages, and keeps people working instead of drawing unemployment insurance benefits, our myopic legislators will probably not realize this and will instead veto any Vikings stadium bill.

Meanwhile, the City of Industry, California, has approved $800 million in local bonding to build the necessary infrastructure to have a stadium ready for 2011. Coincidence?

They took the Lakers, they may take the Vikings.

Anonymosity

August 6th, 2009 at 9:38 AM ^

The stadium itself looks like a huge improvement over the Crap Dome, but it is going to absolutely annihilate the record for the most ugly furniture in one building.

Also, do visitor's locker rooms always look that terrible? Ugly metal lockers, harsh flourescent lighting, cramped, etc. I understand that you don't want the visiting team to be comfortable, but if you're going to make their locker room unpleasant, why not just go all the way and give them a 20x20 room with no furniture and the heat jacked up to 110?

tk47

August 6th, 2009 at 10:02 AM ^

What's the deal with the painted seats in the upper deck (where MINNESOTA is spelled out) not being even along the top?

Other than that, it's a nice little stadium. I wonder what the capacity is ... but I'm too lazy to take 5 seconds to google it.

pz

August 6th, 2009 at 10:28 AM ^

This morning, local news are going bananas about the new stadium alcohol policy.

They used to sell beer in the Metrodome, but wanted to restrict it in the new facility. The president of the university proposed selling only in luxury suites / club seats, but some sort of legislative body shot that down. (At Wisconsin, that's what they do.)

Anyhow, there's a new policy (also recently adopted at WI, apparently), called "Show & Blow" which means that they take your name if you are drunk / unruly at a game. You get kicked out and if you want to come back to more games, you have to take a breathalyzer to get into the stadium.

Not sure how it will work or whatever, but ... just a touch of overkill IMO.

EDIT - additionally, they are talking about how both MN and WI have cameras all over the stadiums that they actively monitor during games, and MN is planning to actually review them AFTER games to potentially retroactively punish people. You've got to be kidding me.

a2bluefan

August 6th, 2009 at 11:31 AM ^

And they got AIR FORCE for their home opener at their new digs. Not that that has anything to do with anything. I'm just sayin'....

New place looks really nice though.

CPS

August 6th, 2009 at 11:37 AM ^

Why is it aboveground? I thought it would be all underground, like a series of tunnels and shit.

Stupid fuckin' geauxfurs.

jmblue

August 6th, 2009 at 2:07 PM ^

It's better than the Metrodome, but it's not that awe-inspiring. I hate open endzones. Also, the gray seating in most of the stadium is pretty bland. They should paint all the benches maroon. This looks sort of like Northwestern's Ryan Field, but with more advertising.

I do like the brick around the field, though, and I had to laugh at the visiting locker rooms.

Joe

August 6th, 2009 at 3:17 PM ^

I think it is a pretty sweet looking stadium. Anybody who has been to the metrodome to watch a game understands that even a high school stadium would have been an upgrade... It will be sweet to have November games up there in the cold.

The thing that I don't get about this is the video board is off-centered in the endzone. I don't know why, but I don't like that.

jg2112

August 6th, 2009 at 10:23 PM ^

(1) So the big-time donors (suite holders, etc.) can see it from the south side of the field;

(2) so it doesn't block the Minneapolis skyline to the West;

(3) so it doesn't block the sun in the late afternoon (the QBs, WRs and D-backs will undoubtedly love that).