More than 8,000 season-ticket deposits have been sold for Minnesota United FC's inaugural season as a Major League Soccer (MLS) franchise, the team announced Thursday.

The team's move to MLS was announced a month ago. The team will play its home games in 2017 at TCF Bank Stadium on the University of Minnesota campus while its 20,000-seat stadium is being built in the Midway neighborhood of St. Paul.

"The overwhelming support we have received since officially announcing our entry into Major League Soccer has been amazing," Minnesota United President Nick Rogers said in a statement.

The team, in a nod to the state's "Land of 10,000 Lakes" nickname, is offering seat selection priority to the first 11,842 fans placing 2017 deposits.

Those fans, equal to the state's actual count of lakes, will be "memorialized" in the new stadium, the statement added.

STAFF AND WIRE REPORTS