Mar 30, 2006 9:27 am US/Central
Reality Check: Naming Rights For A New 'U' Stadium
by Pat Kessler
(WCCO)
The drive for a new football stadium for the University of Minnesota Golden Gophers is stirring up a new debate at the state Capitol.
The deal to name the new stadium "TCF Bank Stadium" is raising eyebrows among lawmakers.
The endorsement is among the largest in college football.
It's TRUE. Twin City Federal will pay $35 million over the next 25 years to build its brand into the ballpark and the contract states it can only be called TCF Bank Stadium in all public references, not "Gopher".
TCF will also pay more for exclusive rights to the U of M student ID and check card and will also have 10 ATM machines and three on-campus banking offices, cashing in on a big new trend.
"We need to make this a reality this year or I strongly suspect it will not happen," said Robert Bruininks, president of the University.
IN FACT, Minnesota will be the first Big 10 school to set football naming rights. Of the 119 largest college football stadiums in America, only three have sold names to corporations so far.
Papa John's Pizza owns the name of Louisville, Ky.'s Papa John's Cardinal Stadium. Texas Tech built the Jones SBC stadium and Syracuse plays football in the Carrier Dome.
Here is what you NEED TO KNOW about what's going on behind the scenes:
• Some Democrats are irritated about the TCF Bank name because of the bank's CEO, Bill Cooper, who is the former head of the Minnesota Republican Party.
• Cooper is also a founding member of the Taxpayer's League of Minnesota, an aggressive conservative watchdog group.
• Cooper is also one of Minnesota's most vocal, most frequent and most prolific contributors to campaigns against Democrats.
The story is INCOMPLETE without mentioning the old Memorial Stadium, which was named in honor of World War I soldiers and was built with contributions from students and the public.
TCF Bank Stadium would stand about a football field length away from where the old Memorial was torn down.
That's Reality Check.
(© MMVI, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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