6 New Features Of U.S. Bank Stadium, Home Of The Vikings
A stadium project with an estimated price tag at more than $1 billion is not only finished, but it's done weeks ahead of schedule. That will be official on Friday as U.S. Bank Stadium, the new home of the Minnesota Vikings, opens for public tours.
More than 110,000 tickets, which are free, have been claimed for this weekend's public tours. The project included more than $600 million in private funding, including a $477 million commitment from the Vikings. The stadium is a total of 1.75 million square feet, twice the size of the Metrodome.
U.S. Bank Stadium features 200,000 square feet of glass, more than 66,000 seats with the capability to expand to 70,000 and seven levels. There are 131 luxury suites, 1,300 WiFi access points and 979 bathrooms.
Now the only thing left to do is kick off the Vikings season. Here are six features of U.S. Bank Stadium, Minnesota-centric and catered to Vikings fans.
6 Custom Themed Club Areas, 8,000 Club Seats
U.S. Bank Stadium features six club areas with about 8,200 seats. Each club has its own experience for fans and on non-game days, the spaces can be used for corporate events, meetings and even weddings. Club Purple features lounge seating, an outdoor patio and headquarters to check on your fantasy football scores. The Hyundai Club is the biggest of the six and features an entire glass wall looking out to the field that retracts to provide an open look to the action on game days.
Another is the Delta Sky Club, which is on the field level where fans can see the Vikings come out of the locker room and go out on the field.
There are 131 total suites with capacity ranging from 10 to 24 people in each suite.
Vikings Ship on Medtronic Plaza
Keeping with the Vikings and Nordic theme, you'll get a sense of history before you even set foot inside U.S. Bank Stadium. A Viking legacy ship, which is still in the process of being put together, will be prominently displayed in front of the stadium on Medtronic Plaza. It's just one of many things about the new Vikings stadium that the team and its fans can take great pride in.
The ship's deck will also have about 14,000 Legacy bricks, which have purchased by Vikings fans and will be personally engraved. They will take up about 3,500 square feet of the deck on the ship.
Giant End Zone Screens
About $60 million alone for the Vikings stadium project was spent on technology. That includes 2,000 high-definition televisions, and two giant jumbo trons above both end zones that make it feel like you're right there on the field scoring the touchdown or getting tackled. The west video board is 120 feet X 68 feet, or about 8,160 square feet and ranks as the 10th largest screen in the NFL. The east video board is 88 feet X 50 feet, or about 4,400 square feet.
Glass Roof, Glass Doors
Two of the most unique features at U.S. Bank Stadium are the roof and the glass doors upon entering. More than half of the roof is glass, which will make it feel like an outdoor game for fans when it's sunny on Sundays. The glass is a product called EFTE (ethylene-tetra-fluoro-ethylene), which lets in sunlight like glass but does so more economically and is self-cleaning. It allows for the outdoor experience without having to deal with potential shifts in weather.
The signature of the entrance to U.S. Bank Stadium is the Legacy Gate, which includes five of the world's largest glass doors. They range from 75 feet to 95 feet tall and are 55 feet wide. On nice days with light winds, the Vikings can opt to leave the doors open for a more true outdoor feel on Sunday kickoffs.
Local Artist Prints On Display
U.S. Bank Stadium has an heavy focus on keeping things all Minnesota, from the construction of the building itself down to the prints and artistry surrounding the hallways. Walk around the concourse and club areas, and you'll see 350 pieces of artwork done by 40 Minnesota artists. They range in everything from paintings to murals and old photographs of present and former Vikings coaches and players. There are also old newspaper pages and artwork of Metropolitan Stadium.
Complete Wi-Fi Access Everywhere
One of the biggest headaches for fans attending sporting events is having slow or limited WiFi activity. That won't be an issue at U.S. Bank Stadium. It features 1,300 access points as well as hot spot "clam shells" on the hand rails throughout the lower bowl. Stadium officials said they expect about 30,000 fans to use the Wi-Fi at a Vikings regular season game but have the bandwidth for up to 70,000 users, like when we host the Super Bowl.
The Vikings also have an app to mix team content with everything you need to know about U.S. Bank Stadium. It includes all team news, digital ticketing, buying merchandise and even pick-up for your hot dog and cold beer.
The parties involved truly thought of everything for this state-of-the-art facility. Now they just need the Vikings to do their part on the field and who knows, maybe they're literally the home team for the 2018 Super Bowl?