Everyone wants a new toy these days, it seems. Now comes word that it's necessary to update the Target Center and spend $150 million to do it. No one is quite sure how it will be done, or who will pay, but apparently it's needed. The renovations are more than the initial construction cost of the building, which is only 20 years old but is now somehow antiquated.
Maybe it's just me, but I am finding it very hard to attend professional sporting events these days. If you are going to bring in a family of four to Target Field to watch the Twins, you can reasonably expect the experience to cost you $150 or more. Benster and I were able to go to a game at Lambeau Field in Green Bay earlier this year thanks to a highly generous gift from my brother. The face value of the tickets in question, good but not great seats, was $83 apiece. The reported ticket prices for the Super Bowl are significantly larger than a mortgage payment for most people in the Twin Cities.
I don't know where it ends. If I didn't know better, I'd say this feels like a bubble. And I don't know better.
4 comments:
Who wants to watch a bunch of crooks play a kids' game to begin with? :^)
Having heard some execs from the Wolves talk about this subject recently, they seem to be operating under the assumption that a new Vikings stadium is (eventually) a done deal and in true 1-on-1 b-ball fashion, have "called" next.
Target Center hasn't seen any real improvements since it was built, but the shoddy work on the court, not in the stands. Fans aren't going to care how suped up the arena is when the team can't win more than 20 a year.
I do have slightly more sympathy for the Wolves' situation. They're asking their landlord (Minneapolis) to fix/upgrade their rental while the Vikings are essentially asking their landlord (the taxing authority of the state) to pony up an entirely new property. Nevertheless, the Wolves look as tone deaf as ever by their timing.
maybe the wolves can play bball in the new football stadium los angeles is close to building?
BB,
That's the eternal question.
FR,
Great to hear from you! I agree -- the Wolves would be a lot more sympathetic if they'd actually put a competitive team on the court, but it's been what, six years now?
Gino,
Heh. Two things -- (a) the Wolves have done that before, since they played in the Metrodome before Target Center was completed; and (b) Los Angeles has already taken away one NBA franchise from the Twin Cities, and I think they've reached their quota.
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