Push, Pull Required for $1B Vikings Showplace Is Over

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The newly built stadium for the Minnesota Vikings holds its first formal event this week, an international soccer exhibition that has already sold more than 55,000 tickets.

More than 200,000 people visited the new U.S. Bank Stadium for a July open house. The Vikings pledged $477 million toward the project, with the rest coming in public funding. By the end of construction, the team contributed an extra $125 million to add the bells and whistles that it wanted for the $1.1 billion stadium.

The open-feel stadium features a giant glass wall looking toward the downtown Minneapolis skyline.The seats are the closest to the field of any NFL stadium. The Vikings first game in the stadium will be their Aug. 28 preseason game against San Diego, but the real curtain raiser will come on September 18th in a Sunday night game against NFC North rival Green Bay.

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