Minnesota United's new soccer stadium in St. Paul will be called Allianz Field, news that came yesterday after the "naming rights had leaked out" from Allianz Life's Twitter feed, according to Paul Klauda of the Minneapolis STAR TRIBUNE. The tweet was "deleted after several minutes." Work is underway at the site of the $150M stadium, which is "expected to open" for the '19 MLS season. The privately financed stadium is "expected to open with a capacity of 19,400." Allianz is "no stranger to sports stadiums" outside the U.S. The Munich-based firm has its name "affiliated with six of them." Reports that Allianz and Minnesota United were "seeking a sponsorship deal surfaced in internet reports in March" (STARTRIBUNE.com, 7/25). This stadium will be the "first carrying" the Allianz' name in North America (TWINCITIES.com, 7/25). In Minneapolis, Nick Halter notes Minnesota United "didn't disclose the price Allianz paid for the rights." Allianz Life Insurance is a Minnesota-based subsidiary of the German parent firm (BIZJOURNALS.com, 7/25). Allianz was close to a naming-rights deal for what is now MetLife Stadium in '08, but a deal fell through after press scrutiny and public outcry over the insurer's ties to the Holocaust (THE DAILY).
