Big money expected from new stadium

Associated Press

Published Monday, April 28, 2008

 

 

MINNEAPOLIS ? Carl Pohlad and the Minnesota Twins expect to really cash in on the new stadium.

 

The ballpark isn?t scheduled to open until 2010. But the Twins expect to make $1.2 billion to $1.5 billion in new revenue during the length of the 30-year lease.

 

?That?s all new money,? said Twins president Dave St. Peter, estimating the annual new revenue from the stadium at about $40 million to $50 million.

 

Unlike the Metrodome, the Twins? deal in the new stadium calls for them to receive money from most areas of the park. That includes parking, concessions, suite sales and nonbaseball events.

 

Pohlad and the Twins also will receive money from the naming rights, which is estimated to bring somewhere between $8 million and $15 million a year into the team?s coffers.

 

The Twins have already sold 47 of the 55 private suites and expect to have them all gone by the time the stadium opens. The 14 most expensive suites are already off the market, and when all is said and done, the suites alone will bring in as much as $240 million over the life of the lease.

 

?This is the antithesis of the Metrodome,? St. Peter said. ?We are going from the worst lease situation in Major League Baseball to one of the best.?

 

Consequently, the value of the team has risen 33 percent ? to $288 million ? according to Forbes magazine.

 

As revenues increase, so will expenses, St. Peter said.

 

The Twins are putting about $167 million of their own money into the project, which will cost about $517 million. They also will spend about $16 million a year in the new park, four times the $4 million a year they spend in operating costs at the Metrodome.

 

The average price of a ticket at the 40,000-seat park will be $17, the same as the Metrodome, said Kevin Smith, executive director of public affairs.

 

All the increased money generated will trickle down to the team?s payroll for players, St. Peter said. The Twins will continue to pour 50 to 52 percent of their revenue into player salaries, which means it could approach $100 million after just $71 million last year.

 

http://www.in-forum.com/Sports/articles/199484

good article...thanks for the informative heads up...

 

just further proof that the new stadium will be a cash cow for alot of people

?This is the antithesis of the Metrodome,? St. Peter said. ?We are going from the worst lease situation in Major League Baseball to one of the best.?

 

I highly doubt it was worse than ours.

funny how they left Metropolitan Stadium to get out of the cold and now they are going open air again.....I think we will see snow in April