Maturi: Will not signficantly expand TCF if Vikes share while building new stadium

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GoAUpher

GoAUpher

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Maturi spoke with Shooter and mentioned that he feels TCF should not be over-expanded should the Vikings play in it for a season or two in their yet to be approved new stadium.

But the Gophers don't plan to significantly expand seating for the Vikings.

"We could put some temporary seating in the west end zone, things of this nature," Maturi said. "There are some ways that we could add capacity, but I think we would be making a mistake making it too large too soon because of the Vikings." ​
 

He is correct. I am just hoping though by the time this type of a decision needs to be considered there are other long term more compelling reasons to expand and this is just one more reason.
 

LOL The Gophers should set up the same deal that they received from the Vikings, if they need to share the stadium for a period of time. :) Talk about a revenue stream.
 

Tell the vikings they need to pay for the expansion if they want it. And they'd have to take a risk and do it in anticipation or it wouldn't be ready in time to make sense, not that it does anyway.
 

if this ever happens, the U should absolutely bend the Vikes over on rental and whatnot.
Sure expand it by 10000, near same as the dome, but charge them 10x normal for everything down to squares of toilet paper.
 


I like Maturi's reasoning

And I also love the potential of the U getting suite revenue, parking revenue, and concession revenue from the Vikings visiting.
 

Interesting idea, expanding in the west end zone. Does anyone know how much capacity could be added by doing that?

I'm envisioning the following:
- Gophers buy temporary bleachers for west end zone for Vikings games and bill the Vikings for the cost
- Instead of building a second deck, the Gophers trot out the added end zone seats for big games. Would it be worth the cost of setup/takedown/storage if you could add for example 5-6,000 seats?
 

badgergopher said:
Interesting idea, expanding in the west end zone. Does anyone know how much capacity could be added by doing that?

I'm envisioning the following:
- Gophers buy temporary bleachers for west end zone for Vikings games and bill the Vikings for the cost
- Instead of building a second deck, the Gophers trot out the added end zone seats for big games. Would it be worth the cost of setup/takedown/storage if you could add for example 5-6,000 seats?
Click to expand...

I don't think we should ever add temporary seats for Gopher games. They'll look cheap and ruin the feel of TCF on that end IMO. I don't care if they try something like that for the Vikes so long as the Vikes pay for it. But i'd rather they keep TCF as is for Gopher's games until the time is right to expand for real.
 

If we added 10,000 more seats, how long would the construction take? The Vikings likely wouldn't share the stadium for more than a season or two in any case. Temporary added seating - paid for by the Vikings - would make more sense.

On the other hand, if the U decided that 10,000 more seats was a good idea, it might be a good opportunity to use the Vikings to get it paid for.

Just so long as the sharing is temporary, because any permanent sharing of the stadium would likely lead over time to the Vikings owning it in all but name. All they would have to do is threaten to leave, and the state would give more and more control to the Vikings.
 



GoAUpher said:
I don't think we should ever add temporary seats for Gopher games. They'll look cheap and ruin the feel of TCF on that end IMO. I don't care if they try something like that for the Vikes so long as the Vikes pay for it. But i'd rather they keep TCF as is for Gopher's games until the time is right to expand for real.
Click to expand...

I think they could put them on the top of the stadium. Plenty of room for stands up there and in the one endzone.

Lots of stadiums do this. I don't care either way as long as it is full.
 

Maybe the vikings should guarantee sellouts for a certain amount of time? Lower risk for all.
 

RodentRampage said:
Just so long as the sharing is temporary, because any permanent sharing of the stadium would likely lead over time to the Vikings owning it in all but name. All they would have to do is threaten to leave, and the state would give more and more control to the Vikings.
Click to expand...

I know there is this fear out there still that somehow, someway the Vikings will end up sharing TCF...but this is the Gopher's stadium and it will never be permanently shared. The legislature doesn't have the power to force the U to share and the Vikings would never share a stadium that is branded from top to bottom as the home of the Gophers.

The one and only thing worth worrying about is whether the U would permanently expand TCF to accommodate the Vikes and leave empty seats for Gopher's games if the demand for more seats isn't high enough yet. Which is why its good to see Maturi acknowledge the concern and agree doing so would be a bad idea.
 

The Vikings struggle to sell 60,000 seats now. No expansion.
 



Technically, the legislature doesn't have the power to force the U to let the Vikings share the stadium. But the legislature didn't have the power to dictate were beer was sold either, the U just chose not to make a court battle over it.

The legislature does have the power to withhold funding for university projects. If the legislature wanted the Vikings to make TCF a permanent home, they have the power to twist some arms.
 

Hopefully in a couple years demand increases for gopher football and there will be an opportunity to do the addition where the vikings would be monetarily contributing a good amount of it.
 

RodentRampage said:
Technically, the legislature doesn't have the power to force the U to let the Vikings share the stadium. But the legislature didn't have the power to dictate were beer was sold either, the U just chose not to make a court battle over it.

The legislature does have the power to withhold funding for university projects. If the legislature wanted the Vikings to make TCF a permanent home, they have the power to twist some arms.
Click to expand...

And I think the U has the power to make it real messy for the legislature...this would have a huge revenue impact not to mention how much it would conflict with the mission of the University. The U would go to the State Supreme Court over the clear Constitutional Autonomy issues raised.

And this still ignores the fact that the Vikings don't want to and will not move to a stadium:
- that has fewer premium seats then they want
- that has over 9,000 block M's throughout
- that would not have a separate locker room for the Vikes (and come to think of it, the visitor's locker room isn't anywhere near NFL quality either).
- that would force them to share revenue streams like ads, parking, etc
- that has bench seats
- etc, etc, etc.
TCF is a great stadium, but it is NOT a NFL level stadium. The Vikes want their own version of Jerry's Palace down in Dallas. TCF is not that.

I recognize that it is possible that they could share. But anything is possible. This is not probable...not even remotely.
 

I think we can agree with goAUpher. a permanently shared situation will not occur.

I don't want to bring this too far off topic, but with the Twins and Gophers out, isn't a vikings specific renovation possible? Or is it just too much $ with a ruesse outcome compared to new?
 

First off the Vikings are making a GINORMOUS mistake by discussing rebuilding on the Metrodome site. GET OUT OF DOWNTOWN!! NFL stadiums belong out where there are seas of parking lots for tailgating. The Metrodome was lucky that it had the Star Trib and more importantly the Washington Avenue lots for as long as they did. Do you really think surface parking in a dense downtown is going to be around in another 10 years? It's not. Nor should it.

Tear down Brookdale....build a Vikings stadium. It's perfect.

Ziggy is brainwashing all you Viking fans trying to get this stadium built...A true Viking fan wants to tailgate, not sit in a stadium restaurant waiting for the game to start.
 

I haven't heard of a Brookdale solution. Not that I've been paying much attention. i like it. Great highway access, plenty of room. With in the 494/694 ring, tho barely.
 

The only place a shared stadium could have worked is the fairgrounds and that ship has sailed. It's not worth it to the Vikings to pay for 10,000 permanent seats for two years use at most. I can see scenario where they split the cost of such an expansion with the U if Gopher attendance warrants it (unlikely).

Purely as an NFL stadium, it would make sense to go out to the suburbs. For purposes of Super Bowls, Final 4's and other large events it makes sense to keep the new Vikings stadium downtown. Also, thier options in the suburbs are limited. Anoka county was a great option but they nuked that bridge beyond repair.
 

I always thought the Ford Plant in Highland would be an awesome place for a stadium once it is shut down (if that ever happens) It's a large space right on the River Bluffs with a dedicated power plant.

I know it will never happen due to environmental cleanup and the neighbors that live there now, but I think it would be a cool site.
 

Schnoodler said:
I haven't heard of a Brookdale solution. Not that I've been paying much attention. i like it. Great highway access, plenty of room. With in the 494/694 ring, tho barely.
Click to expand...

Totally agree. Awesome idea.
 

Great idea except for the tricky little part of our very broke state scraping up 3/4s of a billion $ for Zygi.
 

The Vikings need their own OPEN AIR stadium somewhere in the suburbs with plenty of tailgating room around it. Anything less than that will be another crummy, uninspiring convention center/football stadium like the dome was.

"Metrodome next" is a fitting name for the proposed downtown retractable roof stadium. It would be as much of an eyesore --and as bad of a gameday experience-- as the dome.

At least the Gophs have finally got it right.
 

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