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Vikings say stadium-builder licenses selling swiftly, club seats up for grabs

Vikings say they've sold $30 million worth of seat-builder licenses in first two months.

By Rochelle Olson

May 2, 2014 at 9:08PM

Minnesota Vikings fans can get an early, interactive look at the new stadium under construction in downtown Minneapolis at the team’s Vikings Stadium Preview Center in the 1010 Metrodome Square Building, at 1010 7th Street South, adjacent to the construction site. (Stan Schmidt — Minnesota Vikings/The Minnesota Star Tribune)

The Minnesota Vikings say three out of four season ticket-holders contacted have purchased "stadium-builder" licenses to reserve seats in the $1 billion Minnesota Multipurpose Stadium scheduled to open in 2016.

Thus far, the Vikes have only contacted ticket-holders in two of 16 seating zones. Those zones happen to contain the most expensive seats in the new Minnesota Multipurpose Stadium.

They're called Field and Valhalla club seats. These club seats have their own exclusive bar and dining areas for the ticket-holders akin to the Champions' Club at Target Field.

Stadium-builder licenses for Club and Valhalla seats sell for a one-time charge of $7,500 and $9,500 per seat. Season tickets are extra.

Vikings' spokesman Jeff Anderson said some seats remain in the Club and Valhalla levels and are now available for purchase by any season ticket-holders seeking to upgrade their view of the field in the new stadium.

(Intrigued buyers can set up an appointment at www.newminnesotastadium.com, then come on down to the team's preview center for a look-see.)

The Vikings owners aim to raise $125 million through the sale of the licenses which team owner Zygi Wilf will use as part of his contribution to the stadium.

In addition, the team reports that more than 75 percent of its season ticket-holders renewed for the 2014 and 2015 seasons at the University of Minnesota's campus stadium.

Also, Anderson said the team has sold 2,000 NEW season tickets at the Gophers' stadium.

"Obviously, what we think we're seeing is a lot of people buying their tickets at the university because they get priority at the new stadium," Anderson said.

Those who buy tikcets for the interim seasons, go to the head of the line for seats in the new stadium.

Anderson said the Vikings project 85 percent of season ticket-holders will keep their seats at the Gophers' stadium. The facility is currently being upgraded to make it hospitable for the winter months of the Vikings' seasons.

The Vikes currently have about 50,000 season ticket-holders. The Gophers' stadium seats about 52,000 spectators.

The new Minnesota Multipurpose Stadium on the site of the former Metrodome will seat 65,400. The seat-builder license sales so far account for 6,500 seats, said Anderson, an Iowa native.