This should be about it. This should be the end of the stadium-building business in the Twin Cities for the next couple of decades. And by appearance, the best might have been saved for last, with the unveiling of Allianz Field on Saturday afternoon with Minnesota United taking on … well, it's another MLS team, I'm certain of that, and it's sure to be a thrilling fixture on the new, grassy pitch.
I took a look at the $250 million soccer yard late this week. There's not a bad seat in the house, including those for the 2,900 goofballs who want to stand in an end zone and sing soccer ditties for the entire game.
Big macho deal — standing for a soccer game, which takes what, two hours? If you're so hardy, Bruce McGuire and pals, I challenge you to go to a Twins game and stand through an entire Andrew Vasquez pitching appearance.
United owner Bill McGuire (no relation to superfan Bruce) and his partners also paid the full tab for construction, which makes this not only a spectacular place but the best deal in our entire orgy of building stadiums and arenas in the first two decades of this millennium.
Chris Wright, long charged with running the Timberwolves business operation, went back to his future with soccer in September 2017 to become United president. He was sitting in the press box with the most content look of any sports executive in these parts since …
Well, since Les (Wants More) Bagley pulled off the greatest stadium deal in history for the Vikings and his boss Zygi Wilf, and received that big bonus check for his wondrous work.
Wright pointed to various outstanding features in this soccer Valhalla on Thursday — including the Brew Hall that will be open four days a week as well as gamedays — and said:
"The word is out on how great this is, and we've had representatives from soccer clubs everywhere coming to see it. Almost every team in a major league in the world that's in the process of getting a new stadium is coming to look at what Minnesota now has."