Terms on the Minnesota United FC‘s stay at TCF Bank Stadium have been released, providing insight into the organization’s arrangement with the University of Minnesota.
For the 2017 season, and at least part of the 2018 campaign, United FC will play at TCF Bank Stadium, Minnesota’s football facility. The venue, which hosted the NFL’s Minnesota Vikings on a temporary basis in 2014 and 2015, is being to put to use by United FC as it awaits the completion of a new stadium in downtown St. Paul.
There are a set of terms that cover details such as rent, scheduling, revenue, and field use, as has been detailed by the Star Tribune. United FC will pay $40,000 per game in rent, while granting the university $1 from each ticket sold and covering an estimated $200,000 in gameday expenses.
On the scheduling side, United FC is prevented from playing weekday home games during the fall and spring semesters and on weekends in which the university’s football program is slated to use TCF Bank Stadium. The contract between the two parties, which university officials signed off on this week, also covers terms on concession revenues and field maintenance. More from the Star Tribune:
Concession sales will also generate cash for the U, which will keep 75 percent of money it is entitled to receive through its contract with concessions operator Aramark, with 25 percent of those dollars flowing to United.
Under the Vikings deal, the U was entitled to a flat fee of $50,000 from concession sales and gameday sponsorships.
The only major sponsorship kink the two parties had to deal with was the arrangement between Major League Soccer and AdvoCare International, a health and wellness company that makes shakes and dietary supplements. AdvoCare’s Rehydrate is the league’s official sports drink, but United will face restrictions in how it promotes the brand, including “limited display and promotion,” according to the contract.
When United is ready to move into its new $150 million facility in the Midway neighborhood, the team will have to pay up to $735,000 to remove the special soccer turf the U installed for the team, according to the contract. Though United originally hoped to make that move sometime in 2018, team officials have indicated recently that it is possible the new facility may not be ready until the 2019 season.
As far as the field is concerned, there is a similar arrangement in Atlanta, where Atlanta United FC will begin the 2017 season at Georgia Tech’s Bobby Dodd Stadium. As the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported in December, the organization installed a natural grass parameter that would create a wider playing surface. When Atlanta moves into Mercedes-Benz Stadium this summer, it will cover the expense of having that parameter replaced with an artificial surface before the 2017 college football season.
There have been 17 regular season games scheduled for TCF Bank Stadium for 2017. Minnesota could could spend all of 2018 at TCF Bank Stadium if the new St. Paul stadium does not open at some point next year.
Image courtesy Minnesota United FC.