A record $1 million in football state tournament proceeds has the Minnesota State High School League anticipating more money to share with its schools.
Charging higher ticket prices, moving tournament semifinals and finals back indoors at U.S. Bank Stadium and getting the new facility rent-free fueled a revenue surge and drop in expenses in both football and soccer.
Projected proceeds of $1 million in football and about $159,000 in soccer likely are records, said Rich Matter, the league's director of finance. While nothing is final until the end of fiscal year, Matter said he doesn't expect much change in the numbers.
That means more money to reimburse schools with state tournament teams in all activities through the league's "revenue-sharing plan."
"We do have to wait until the end of the fiscal year and see what the general, administrative and all tournament expenses are," Matter said. "But all projections are that there will be a nice pot of money to return to member schools."
Proceeds from football, which played the semifinals and finals outdoors in 2014 and 2015 after decades inside the Metrodome, plummeted from $584,909 in the final year of the Metrodome to $118,596 the first year at TCF Bank Stadium.
Dollars from soccer, playing games outdoors in St. Cloud, also dipped.
In August 2015, the league's board of directors voted to suspend tournament reimbursement to schools for a year.