Preview of new gameday experience at TCF?

2nd Degree Gopher

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I attended the Guinness International Champions Cup yesterday at TCF Bank Stadium. Seating area appeared to be a little over half full, with announced attendance of over 34,000. The sun was pretty intense for a large part of the first game and there were many people in the concourse taking advantage of the vantage point from the shade. A few observations of the set up for this event that I presume was being used as a test run for the fall. First, the temporary seats don’t look too bad when they are occupied. They are blue and I’d rather they weren’t filling in the open plaza, but we’ll survive it for two years. Second, there were beer sales at the regular concession stands and at numerous temporary kiosks throughout the concourse. I didn’t see any tap beer, just 16 oz. cans. People seemed to be drinking quite a bit of beer, but there was never a line more than 4-5 people deep where I was (south side). I didn’t visit the beer garden during the game, but the set up outside Gate A looked similar to a Gopher football game except there were more stand up tables and a larger area to stand around and enjoy a beer. Third, there was a brief, but spirited “Who hates Iowa?” chant during the second game. It took a little while to explain the significance to the Olympiacos fan near me, but after the explanation he appreciated the sentiment.

All in all, it was a great day. Can’t wait for August 28.
 

I attended the Guinness International Champions Cup yesterday at TCF Bank Stadium. Seating area appeared to be a little over half full, with announced attendance of over 34,000. The sun was pretty intense for a large part of the first game and there were many people in the concourse taking advantage of the vantage point from the shade. A few observations of the set up for this event that I presume was being used as a test run for the fall. First, the temporary seats don’t look too bad when they are occupied. They are blue and I’d rather they weren’t filling in the open plaza, but we’ll survive it for two years. Second, there were beer sales at the regular concession stands and at numerous temporary kiosks throughout the concourse. I didn’t see any tap beer, just 16 oz. cans. People seemed to be drinking quite a bit of beer, but there was never a line more than 4-5 people deep where I was (south side). I didn’t visit the beer garden during the game, but the set up outside Gate A looked similar to a Gopher football game except there were more stand up tables and a larger area to stand around and enjoy a beer. Third, there was a brief, but spirited “Who hates Iowa?” chant during the second game. It took a little while to explain the significance to the Olympiacos fan near me, but after the explanation he appreciated the sentiment.

All in all, it was a great day. Can’t wait for August 28.

It's time to take "Who Hates Iowa" world wide. Greece is a good place to start. :cool02:
 

"...Third, there was a brief, but spirited “Who hates Iowa?” chant during the second game. It took a little while to explain the significance to the Olympiacos fan near me, but after the explanation he appreciated the sentiment.

All in all, it was a great day. Can’t wait for August 28.[/QUOTE]

I heard that as well from section 243. However, I thought it was "Who Hates Ottawa" coming from the Loon fanatics.
 

Was there as well and the temporary seats look fine, they just obstruct the view of The Barn and Downtown a little bit.

They also have cash registers now!!!
 



I took the light rail to the game and it was great. After the game they barricaded off the southeastern lane of 23rd Avenue and made it into a corral for the line to get back on the LRT. Living over by Lake Calhoun it took me about 45 minutes to get to the game on the bus and then the train, but it was pretty smooth and the rail portion was quick. From Nicollet Mall it took probably 10ish minutes to the stadium.
 


Outside of Gate A was really nice. They had bags to play along with the tables to stand around. Would be nice if they have that as a pregame option this fall.
 




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