On football Saturdays, the DQ Club Room at the Gophers’ new TCF Bank Stadium will be populated by “a who’s-who of the Twin Cities business community,” promises Jason Butikofer. “The social atmosphere in there will be unbelievable, both during and after every game.”
Butikofer is director of the annual fund and premium seating for the Gopher athletics department. The 20,000-square-foot club room (which is named for its sponsor Dairy Queen) anchors the premium-seating sections on the south side of the soon-to-be- completed stadium.
Minnesota boasts the first brand new football stadium built by a Big 10 school in more than 50 years. Starting with a blank slate allowed the university to take full advantage of the possibilities for adding private suites and other high-revenue seating. If the premium section sells out to its 2,500-person capacity, Butikofer says, it will generate about $5 million this season in seating revenue alone (not counting sales of food, beverages, and other amenities). That’s about a third of projected ticket revenue for the 50,000-seat stadium.
A sellout is not out of the question, despite the rotten economy. By early April, patrons had signed up for 32 of 37 private suites (bars, refrigerators, flat-screen TVs), each accommodating 16 to 19 people, at an annual price of $45,000. They’d also bought up 1,070 of 1,241 outdoor club seats (wide, padded, great sight lines) at $1,800 each; 144 of 250 indoor club seats at $3,000 per; and all 54 “loge boxes” (semi-private, outdoor mini suites for four or six people) at $10,000 or $15,000 each.
About 60 percent of all premium sales have been to businesses, Butikofer says. Private suites went mostly to Minnesota’s largest companies. He won’t name any, aside from TCF Bank and Dairy Queen, but says, “If you think of the Fortune 500 companies in town, you’d have the right start for a list.”
The 54 loge boxes, unique among college stadiums to the best of Butikofer’s knowledge, proved extremely popular with midsize companies. They sold out last November.
All premium seating areas include access to the DQ Club Room, concierge service, upscale food—and alcohol, which will be sold nowhere else in the stadium. So all premium fans can both rub elbows and bend elbows.
