TCF Bank Stadium

Decision Points

TCF Bank Stadium is the football stadium for the Minnesota Golden Gophers college football team at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The 50,805 seat on-campus "horseshoe" style stadium is designed to support future expansion to seat up to 80,000 people, and cost $288.5 million to build.

TCF Bank Stadium is the first of three spectator sports stadiums that either have been built or are being considered for the major tenants of the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome – the Gophers and two professional teams, the Minnesota Twins baseball and Minnesota Vikings football teams. Served by existing and proposed light rail, the three stadiums are located within a 1.25 miles (2.01 km) radius loosely centered at the Guthrie Theater on the Mississippi River in downtown Minneapolis.

TCF Bank Stadium is a horseshoe-style stadium which organizers said would have a "traditional collegiate look and feel". The first phase of the construction includes approximately 50,805 seats, with the design able to support future expansion of up to 80,000 seats. There are 39 suites, 59 loge boxes, and 300 indoor club seats. On December 7, 2006, the university announced that the stadium's field would be laid out in an east-west configuration, with the open end of the stadium facing campus. This layout, similar to that of Memorial Stadium, provides a view of downtown Minneapolis.^[5] The scoreboard for the stadium was designed and built by Daktronics at a cost of $9 million. At 48 feet (14.6 m) high by 108 feet (32.9 m) wide, the HD-X light-emitting diode (LED) video display technology scoreboard is the third largest in college football only stadiums. The new stadium also incorporates a tribute to the university's veterans.

On September 17, 2009, the University of Minnesota announced that TCF Bank Stadium was awarded LEED Silver Certification, the first college or professional football stadium to achieve LEED certification.

While TCF Bank Stadium is the game day venue of the Golden Gophers football team, the stadium will also provide the University with several other uses. The stadium replaced Northrop Auditorium as the home of the University of Minnesota Marching Band, providing the band with new storage, rehearsal, and locker facilities. The university also expects to use the stadium for intramural sports, career fairs, and graduation ceremonies.University officials have also suggested that the stadium could be used to host outdoor hockey games, such as the annual NHL Winter Classic.

In November 2009, it was announced that the U2 360° Tour would be the first concert performance in the stadium on June 27, 2010. However, a majority of the 2010 U2 concert tour was postponed after U2 frontman Bono underwent emergency back surgery, and has been rescheduled for July 23, 2011.^[64] Other potential non-university uses for the stadium have been discussed as well. Minnesota State High School League state tournaments, concerts, and marching band and drum corps competitions have all been considered. If the Minnesota Vikings successfully carry out a plan to build a new stadium on the current site of the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome, TCF Bank Stadium could provide a temporary home for the team until the new stadium is completed. TCF Bank Stadium was evaluated as a potential venue for a bid by the United States to host the 2018 or 2022 FIFA World Cup. In addition, TCF Bank Stadium was planned as a preliminary soccer venue in the Chicago bid for the 2016 Summer Olympics.

Due to a collapse of the Metrodome's roof, the Minnesota Vikings' Monday Night Football game against the Chicago Bears is scheduled to be held at the stadium on December 20, 2010.