College Football Events in Minneapolis

Goldmember

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So the Super Bowl is basically over, and it was a smashing success blah blah blah.
So why can’t US Bank Stadium/Minneapolis/MoA host any major college football events?

The CFP passed on Minneapolis not once, but TWICE. The second time, they didn’t even bother to offer an excuse. There will be no CFP Championship in Minneapolis until at least 2025.

Similarly, the Big Ten passed on Minneapolis twice and decided to just continue to hold its championship game in Indianapolis until at least 2022. Minneapolis is the next most logical site for this game, and most conferences have held their CCG in a few different cities. So the B1G’s continued commitment to Indianapolis is clearly a snub of Minneapolis.

US Bank is also one of only a couple new NFL football stadiums to have never hosted a college football bowl game. Northern bowl games are nothing unusual at this point. The lower-tier bowl games have almost no attendance and no supporting events. Even a half-hearted attempt in Minneapolis would be far better experiences for fans and teams than at least half of the bowl games that exist now. This super bowl proved that.

#4... what about the FCS championship? The game is in a soccer stadium in suburban Dallas through the 2019 season. But 2020-2021 may involve a new host city.
 

Good points Goldmember. Esp the one about the FCS Championship. NDSU fans would love that. As for a bowl game? We could call it the Ice Bowl? Maybe get Klondike Bars to sponsor it? lol j/k Maybe the Arctic Bowl? Have Arctic Cat sponsor it? We could have a Hockey Bowl, get 2 of the best hockey school's football teams in the game. What teams would be available? Notre Dame, Michigan, OSU, Wisconsin, PSU, BC, WMU, Arizona St, Minnesota, MSU, Air Force, Army, Miami of Ohio & Bowling Green? Most of those teams would be bound contractually to other bowls, so maybe it couldn't work? But maybe the B1G would cooperate to a point? He11, how about the loser of the Mn/UW game always has to play in this bowl game, with the rare exception of the losing somehow getting into the B1G Title game, of course?! Hey, I'm not trying to say these are the best ideas, they are just ideas, lol. PLEASE improve upon them. lol
 

Like it or not, the headlines about the Super Bowl will include the phrase "coldest temperatures in Super Bowl history for the host city." The fact that the game is indoors doesn't matter.

Part of the appeal of a bowl game is for the fans to travel to some place where they can have fun. Minnesota in the winter is not seen as a fun destination by most of the country.

And, with the current glut of bowl games, it certainly would not be a new bowl. The best chance the Twin Cities has for a bowl game is to convince some bowl to move here from another site that has under-performed.

And, at the risk of seeming cynical, who's going to go to the game? It's not like the Gopher fan base flocks to games involving their own team. I don't see tons of Gopher fans choosing to watch some mid-level D1 school face Directional State.

Now, if the NCAA expanded the FB playoffs, and decided to hold games at neutral sites, then many US Bank could be in play. That's a lot of ifs.
 

Indianapolis is a neutral site for the BIG.

The NFL throws a bone to the new stadiums in the NFL. They will never be back to MPLS in my life time.

I wish Minnesota could have more opportunities to show off during the summer months.
 

Why not an early season neutral site game, much like the games at Jerry World and in Atlanta?


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Why not an early season neutral site game, much like the games at Jerry World and in Atlanta?


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I love the idea, but which two teams are going to play at this neutral site that will come close to selling out this venue?
 

If Minnesota TRULY wants outsiders to come to Minnesota in December and/or January on a regular basis, for things like future Super Bowls, NHL All-Star games, cfb bowl games, etc.. Then it needs to construct some sort of system of underground and skyway transportation system that connects everything from the International Airport and MOA, to US Bank Stadium, and several things in between, like the U of Mn and probably some sort of access to downtown Mpls. No one wants to have to buy a new set of clothes just to come here to visit, and no one wants to be uncomfortable, and being cold is very uncomfortable.

Now this is the sci-fi nut in me, but if any city was to consider investing in some kind of overhead dome encompassing a large portion of the city, I'd think Mpls would be the first City for this kind of thing.


Figure out a way that taxpayers could benefit from such a thing and it just might happen, lol.


But these ideas aren't so far fetched. All that is needed is that the places visitors make the transfers from plane to bus or other forms of transport just need to be heated and contained. And then their transfer from bus or other forms of transport to where they stay or go for entertainment just need to be heated, as well.

It might be more money than its worth, but it might be the only way the State of Minnesota would ever be able to compete with warmer climate locations.


I'd say the MOA site is the best place to expand, add luxury hotels, maybe some form of casino facilities, etc.?
 

Indianapolis is a neutral site for the BIG.

The NFL throws a bone to the new stadiums in the NFL. They will never be back to MPLS in my life time.

US Bank stadium is a neutral site too. Indinapolis, by contrast, is virtually inaccessible for most of the conference‘s fans (while MSP is an international hub), but just a few hours from Ohio State.

Your second point I’ve heard often, but it just isn’t true. Charlotte, Seattle, Cleveland, Boston, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, Nashville, and Cincinnati all opened new stadiums in the last 20 years. None of them have hosted a Super Bowl. Maryland built TWO stadiums, and still hasn’t hosted a Super Bowl. You may be right that the Super Bowl will not be back in MN anytime soon (a separate point). But there are a lot of reasons to think this stadium will host another one. There are only about a dozen places in the USA that meet the NFL’s criteria; the Twin Cities is one of the few. The only reason it wouldn’t is because of the weather. And that has proved to be a non-factor on several occasions now.
 

You KNOW if New York had in an indoor stadium it'd be the permanent home of the B1G championship by now.
 



US Bank stadium is a neutral site too. Indinapolis, by contrast, is virtually inaccessible for most of the conference‘s fans (while MSP is an international hub), but just a few hours from Ohio State.

Indianapolis is centrally located. That's a huge advantage over MN. It's easy for all fan bases to drive there.

Your second point I’ve heard often, but it just isn’t true. Charlotte, Seattle, Cleveland, Boston, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, Nashville, and Cincinnati all opened new stadiums in the last 20 years. None of them have hosted a Super Bowl. Maryland built TWO stadiums, and still hasn’t hosted a Super Bowl. You may be right that the Super Bowl will not be back in MN anytime soon (a separate point). But there are a lot of reasons to think this stadium will host another one. There are only about a dozen places in the USA that meet the NFL’s criteria; the Twin Cities is one of the few. The only reason it wouldn’t is because of the weather. And that has proved to be a non-factor on several occasions now.

Those stadiums are all outside. There's zero chance Minneapolis hosts the Super Bowl if US Bank Stadium had no roof.
 

Indianapolis is centrally located. That's a huge advantage over MN. It's easy for all fan bases to drive there.

This is the same conference that was trying to woo Arizona State to join as a hockey member. I am afraid you may be right, however.

But having a major event somewhere for the sole reason that it’s in the middle of the map is just stunningly terrible logic. It’s Similar to concluding that the Big Ten should offer Iowa State membership in the conference. And Indy is virtually inaccessible by car for much of Big Ten country anyway. If the conference truly wants to brag about its tremendous geographic span they need to quit thinking so painfully small.

I have no doubt, it’s been a nice easy drive for OSU fans all these years. And I’m sure that’s been the league’s motive. But it’s time to move-on and sell a new experience. The NFL doesn’t just have the Super Bowl in Kansas every year.
 

The college football Championship should rotate in a Big Ten city every once in a while...
 

But having a major event somewhere for the sole reason that it’s in the middle of the map is just stunningly terrible logic.

I'm not disagreeing with you. I would like them to rotate it between a few cities. I think then you'll get more locals to attend even if their team isn't playing because it's kinda unique to that area.

And Indy is virtually inaccessible by car for much of Big Ten country anyway.

I'm not sure what you mean by this? I think ever team but Rutgers is within a 10 hour drive of Indy.
 



I belive we got turned down for an FBS playoff game with some reasoning being given that the stadium was new or something weird like that. The impression I got was that it would happen eventually.

Anyway if anyone expects to just get stuff regularly because they built a stadium ... I don't know what to tell you except that's not usually a thing. Your own list of places that haven't gotten it are pretty an example....
 

I belive we got turned down for an FBS playoff game with some reasoning being given that the stadium was new or something weird like that. The impression I got was that it would happen eventually.

Anyway if anyone expects to just get stuff regularly because they built a stadium ... I don't know what to tell you except that's not usually a thing. Your own list of places that haven't gotten it are pretty an example....

The play-off games are existing Bowls.
 



I love the idea, but which two teams are going to play at this neutral site that will come close to selling out this venue?

I think MN and WI could give up a home game to have a Lambeau and USBank game.

I also like the idea of a Bowl Game. Take what they learned from the Super Bowl, pare it down and have an annual bowl with a "Bold North" theme. We have all these Fortune 500 companies don't we?
 

I think MN and WI could give up a home game to have a Lambeau and USBank game.

I'm not a big fan of these "neutral" games but if they were going to do it, I'd prefer it be against a non conference opponents like Missouri (US Bank and the Dome in St. Louis) or Notre Dame (US Bank and Soldier Field).
 

Someone should set up a winter-wear (jackets, hats, gloves, boots) rental business at the airport.
 

According to this guy on reddit, the geographical center of the conference is about 2.5 hours due north of Indy.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.re...ts/2rxap0/conferences_by_geographical_center/

So it’s the longitudinal midpoint of the conference, it’s domed, and it’s nobody’s home stadium. While I’d love to host the game, I’m not surprised they picked Indy.

For my money it should be played at Soldier Field every year, outside!
 

If the B1G can hold the basketball tournament at MSG, they can give us at least one championship football game. The 'centrally located' bit is clearly BS.
 

I think the FCS idea is interesting. When NDSU is here it would be a huge game. Anyone else and it would look like the prep bowl.

As far as a bowl game, I think this would need to be a better college football town first. The Gophers go to a Rose Bowl and start selling out, then we’d have the fans to go to a bowl game.
 

It should be possible to get a bowl game here. You just need a group investors who want to put in the time and cash. The status of the bowl depends on how much cash the bowl can pay the teams.

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US Bank stadium is a neutral site too. Indinapolis, by contrast, is virtually inaccessible for most of the conference‘s fans (while MSP is an international hub), but just a few hours from Ohio State.

Your second point I’ve heard often, but it just isn’t true. Charlotte, Seattle, Cleveland, Boston, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, Nashville, and Cincinnati all opened new stadiums in the last 20 years. None of them have hosted a Super Bowl. Maryland built TWO stadiums, and still hasn’t hosted a Super Bowl. You may be right that the Super Bowl will not be back in MN anytime soon (a separate point). But there are a lot of reasons to think this stadium will host another one. There are only about a dozen places in the USA that meet the NFL’s criteria; the Twin Cities is one of the few. The only reason it wouldn’t is because of the weather. And that has proved to be a non-factor on several occasions now.

Saying US Bank Stadium is a neutral site might be technically correct but it sits literally steps away from a BIG campus. You are being disingenuous at best. Now if you want to discuss the Gophers chances of ever participating in that game, that is entirely a different subject.

Point taken on your reference to the stadiums that have not hosted a SB. Don't get me wrong, I hope y'all host another big game, just seems a bit unlikely.
 

I think MN and WI could give up a home game to have a Lambeau and USBank game.

Wisconsin would lose money on that deal. Smaller capacity stadium plus the entire weekend tailgate in Madison.

I award you no points
 

US Bank Stadium was turned down for the 2020 CFP title game due to concerns over fatigue from having the Super Bowl and Final Four the 2 years prior. I was really hoping we'd get one in the next cycle.
 

Wisconsin would lose money on that deal. Smaller capacity stadium plus the entire weekend tailgate in Madison.

I award you no points

Wisconsin already played LSU at Lambeau in 2016, and will play Notre Dame there in 2020.
 

I've been arguing for years......The General Mills Cereal Bowl

Re Netural Site: I think if you involved Notre Dame with someone else, you could sell it out.

Re Big Ten: I'd like if they rotated once in a while to US Bank or Ford Field. I'd be down with an outdoor game in Chicago once in a while too, as long as they fixed their garbage playing surface at Soldier Field. But Indy seems to make the most sense for all involved & should get the majority of them.

Re Bowl Championship: There's no reason it couldn't go off here. Would you get as many volunteers & as big an effort compared to the Super Bowl though? As big as this game would be, it's not the Super Bowl.
 

Having the football championship at US Bank would be awesome. The whining from fans of a southern team would be hilarious.
 




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