The Univ. of Minnesota "expects to make" around $10M by allowing expansion MLS club Minnesota United to "play its first season and a half" at TCF Bank Stadium, according to Josh Verges of the ST. PAUL PIONEER PRESS. The school "approved a contract Friday that will make the on-campus football stadium the temporary home" for the team starting in March. The deal says that TCF Bank Stadium will host 23 games in '17 and another 11 in '18. But with no construction date set for a new stadium in St. Paul, the team has an "option to use TCF Bank Stadium" for the entire '18 season if necessary. The team will "guarantee the university" at least $1M in '17 and $550,000 in '18, but the "potential total," assuming 20,000 tickets sold per game, is calculated at $6.87M and $3.29M plus various costs. A list of things the school is getting from the deal includes $40,000 per game plus $1 per ticket sold, 75% of Aramark's concessions revenue, projected at $3 per attendee, 25 free tickets for Suite 1 and 12 non-premium seats and up to $735,000 to "install new football turf" after the last soccer game in '18 (ST. PAUL PIONEER PRESS, 10/18).
