The Minnesota Sports Facilities Authority (MSFA) is the public authority that owns and operates

U.S. Bank Stadium U.S. Bank Stadium is an enclosed stadium located in downtown Minneapolis, Minnesota. Built on the former site of the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome, the indoor stadium opened in 2016 and is the home of the Minnesota Vikings of the National Footbal ...

Minneapolis Minneapolis () is the largest city in Minnesota, United States, and the county seat of Hennepin County. The city is abundant in water, with thirteen lakes, wetlands, the Mississippi River, creeks and waterfalls. Minneapolis has its origins ...

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...

. It was established in

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...

by the

Minnesota Legislature The Minnesota Legislature is the bicameral legislature of the U.S. state of Minnesota consisting of two houses: the Senate and the House of Representatives. Senators are elected from 67 single-member districts. In order to account for decennia ...

as the successor organization to the Metropolitan Sports Facilities Commission (MSFC), which was established in 1977 to oversee the construction of the

Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome The Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome (commonly called the Metrodome) was a domed sports stadium located in downtown Minneapolis, Minnesota. It opened in 1982 as a replacement for Metropolitan Stadium, the former home of the National Football League ...

; the MSFC owned and operated the Metrodome in a similar fashion to the MSFA. The MSFA initially oversaw the Metrodome until the stadium was demolished to make way for U.S. Bank Stadium in early 2014. Three of its five members are appointed by the

Governor of Minnesota The governor of Minnesota is the head of government of the U.S. state of Minnesota, leading the state's executive branch. Forty people have been governor of Minnesota, though historically there were also three governors of Minnesota Territory. ...

, with the remaining two being appointed by the

mayor of Minneapolis This is a list of mayors of Minneapolis, Minnesota. The current mayor is Jacob Frey (DFL). Minneapolis From 1867 to 1878 mayors were elected for a 1-year term. Beginning in 1878 the term was extended to 2 years. As the city became larger and mor ...

History

Public involvement in stadiums within the Twin Cities area has existed ever since interest in professional sports within the area started to grow in the early 1950s. The cities of Minneapolis and Bloomington formed the Metropolitan Sports Area Commission (MSAC) on August 13, 1954, to oversee the construction and operation of

Metropolitan Stadium Metropolitan Stadium (often referred to as "the Met", "Met Stadium", or now "the Old Met" to distinguish from the Metrodome) was an outdoor sports stadium in the north central United States, located in Bloomington, Minnesota, a suburb of Minneap ...

in the latter city, with the stadium opening in 1956. However, with the

Minnesota Vikings The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) North division. Founded in 1960 as an expansion ...

dissatisfied by the state of the stadium in the 1970s, plans were devised for its replacement by local and state governments. When the Metropolitan Sports Facilities Commission was formed in 1977, it absorbed the MSAC and took over the operations of Metropolitan Stadium; it would continue to do so until the end of 1981 with the Metrodome's opening the following year. The commission was composed of seven members, six of which were appointed by the

Minneapolis City Council The Minneapolis City Council is the lawmaking body of Minneapolis. It consists of 13 members, elected from separate wards to four-year terms, via a ranked-choice method. The council structure has been in place since the 1950s. In recent elections ...

. The chair, however, was appointed by the

and could not reside in Minneapolis. The commission was abolished by the Minnesota Legislature as part of legislation that funded U.S. Bank Stadium in May 2012; its assets were transferred to the Minnesota Sports Facilities Authority. On June 14, 2012, Governor

Mark Dayton Mark Brandt Dayton (born January 26, 1947) is an American politician who served as the 40th governor of Minnesota from 2011 to 2019. He was a United States Senator for Minnesota from 2001 to 2007, and the Minnesota State Auditor from 1991 to 1 ...

appointed Michele Kelm-Helgen as chair, along with Duane Benson (term end December 31, 2015) and John Griffith (term end December 31, 2016) to the board. Minneapolis Mayor R. T. Rybak appointed Barbara Butts Williams (term end December 31, 2015) and Bill McCarthy (term end December 31, 2016). The board named

Ted Mondale Theodore Adams Mondale (born October 12, 1957) is an American politician who served as a member of the Minnesota Senate from 1991 to 1997. He is the elder son of the late former U.S. Vice President Walter Mondale and the late Joan Mondale. Car ...

as Executive Director on June 22, 2012. Benson resigned in June 2015, citing conflict with Kelm-Helgen. Dayton appointed Tony Sertich in August 2015. Dayton declined to reappoint Griffith at the end of 2016. He appointed former Minnesota Supreme Court Justice

Kathleen Blatz Kathleen Ann Blatz (born July 22, 1954) is a former Minnesota judge and legislator. She served as the interim chair of the Minnesota Sports Facilities Authority, which governs the U.S. Bank Stadium. Early life and education Blatz was born in Minn ...

on January 13, 2017 instead. On February 16, 2017 both Kelm-Helgen and Mondale resigned over use of

's suites. Gov. Dayton appointed Blatz as interim chair on February 23, 2017. James Farstad served as the interim Executive Director until Rick Evans was named Executive Director on March 10, 2017. On July 13, 2017, Dayton appointed Michael Vekich as chair (term ends January 7, 2019) and Laura Bishop as board member (term ends December 31, 2020). On November 17, 2017 Executive Director Rick Evans announced his retirement due to health reasons effective at the end of 2017. At the December 15, 2017 board meeting, James Farstad was named interim Executive Director until a replacement was found. On May 18, 2018 Farstad was named the permanent Executive Director. Bishop left in January 2019 to take the position of commissioner of the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency. Vekich was reappointed on February 22, 2019, by Governor

Tim Walz Timothy James Walz ( ; born April 6, 1964) is an American politician and retired educator. A member of the Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party (DFL), he has served as the 41st governor of Minnesota since 2019. Born in West Point, Nebraska, Walz ...

Angela Burns Finney was appointed by Gov. Walz September 2019 Barbara Butts Williams left in the summer of 2021 and was replaced by former Minneapolis mayor Sharon Sayles Belton in September 2021. Director Farstad resigned in March 2022.

Staff

Current board members

Executive directors

Chairs

References

External links

Minnesota Sports Facilities Authority
* {{Archive url, url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120517151832/http://msfc.com/, date=May 17, 2012, title=Metropolitan Sports Facilities Commission (also Metrodome website) Sports in Minneapolis