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96-787: Three members of the Fearless were part of the inaugural WWCFL board. Together, Fearless founder Tannis Wilson and former-GM Lisa Cummings founded the Manitoba Girls Football Association. The Fearless were founded in Winnipeg in 2008. Founder Tannis Wilson had traveled to Alberta after a women's team was founded in Calgary, and returned to Winnipeg with the goal of founding a club there. The Fearless spent several years traveling to play exhibition matches against teams in Alberta, as well as against

192-507: A blue seat back and bottom as well as Puckett's #34 on the seat where it remained until the final Vikings game of 2013 in the Metrodome when, as local media reported, a fan took the #34 plate off the seat. The original World Series armrests and hardware, as well as the replacement blue seat back and bottom, are now part of a private Kirby Puckett collection in Minnesota. From the time the stadium

288-449: A climate-controlled facility to host the three sports tenants in Minnesota with the largest attendance. For Major League baseball, the Metrodome was regarded as a hitter's park, with a low (7  ft) left-field fence (343  ft) that favored right-handed power hitters , and the higher (23  ft) but closer (327  ft) right-field Baggie that favored left-handed power hitters. It gave up even more home runs before air conditioning

384-548: A foul ball, if it landed in fair territory it became a fair ball. Any ball which became caught in the roof over fairground was a ground rule double . That has only happened three times in its history – Dave Kingman for the Oakland Athletics on May 4, 1984, the University of Minnesota Gophers player George Behr and Corey Koskie in 2004 . The speakers, being closer to the playing surface, were hit more frequently, especially

480-568: A jet airliner—both close to the threshold of pain . The 1991 World Series is considered one of the best of all time. The blue colored seat back and bottom where Kirby Puckett 's 1991 World Series Game 6 walk-off home run landed in Section 101, Row 5, Seat 27 (renumbered 34 after the home run in honor of Kirby's uniform number), is now in the Twins archives, along with the gold-colored back and bottom that replaced it for several years. The Twins reinstalled

576-725: A nationwide series of exhibition game. More than 100 women attended tryouts. The teams were named the Minnesota Vixens and the Lake Michigan Minx, and the "No Limits" Barnstorming Tour featured six games in such locations as Miami, Chicago, and New York. The final exhibition game was played at the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome in Minneapolis (known worldwide as home to the National Football League 's Minnesota Vikings ). While

672-535: A new venue. Supporters of a dome also believed that the Minnesota Twins would benefit from a climate-controlled stadium to insulate the team from harsh Minnesota weather later in their season. The Met would have likely needed to be replaced anyway, as it was not well maintained. Broken railings and seats could be seen in the upper deck by the 1970s; by its final season, they had become a distinct safety hazard. Construction success of other domed stadiums, particularly

768-662: A three-game season, going 1–2 against the Arizona Caliente and the Indianapolis Vipers. The Vixen finished 2–3 and fourth place in the National Conference. The Vixen finished 2–7 and fourth place in the American Conference, North Division. The Vixen finished 6–4 and second place in the National Conference, North Division, qualifying for the playoffs for the first time in four years. However, they would lose

864-604: Is a professional women's football team based in the Twin Cities . The team has been known as the Minnesota Vixens and Minneapolis Vixens prior to being known as the Vixen (note lack of "s"). Established in 1999, the Vixen are the longest continuously operating women's American football team in the nation. The team plays full contact, tackle football following NCAA rules. The season is from April to June each year with playoffs in July. In 2014,

960-581: Is the current owner of the Vixen and has run team operations with James Brown since 2014. Laura Brown was named to the WFA's Owner's Board in October, 2018. Vixen history dates back to 1999, when businessmen Carter Turner and Terry Sullivan decided to explore the feasibility of a professional women's football league by gathering together top female athletes from across the United States and dividing them into two teams for

1056-416: Is thought to be a closer approximation to natural grass than Astroturf in its softness, appearance, and feel. A new Sportexe Momentum Turf surface was installed during the summer of 2010. When the conversion between football and baseball took place, the pitcher's mound was raised and lowered by an electric motor. The mound weighed 23,000 pounds (10,000 kg) and was 18 feet (5.5 m) in diameter. With

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1152-498: The Detroit Lions 14–13. The following day, a local company began removal of seats for sale to the public and various charities and nonprofits. Individual chairs went for $ 40 each to charities, $ 60 each to the public and $ 80 each for specific seat requests. The roof was deflated for the final time on January 18. On the morning of February 2, 2014, the steel support cables that stretched from end-to-end of stadium that held together

1248-525: 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 's (NFL) Minnesota Vikings and Major League Baseball 's (MLB) Minnesota Twins , and Memorial Stadium , the former home of the Minnesota Golden Gophers football team. The Metrodome was the home of

1344-570: The Minneapolis Armory had not been developed and stood between the Metrodome and the rest of Downtown Minneapolis. Only in recent years did redevelopment begin moving Southeast to reach the Metrodome. More restaurants, hotels, and condominiums have been built nearby. The METRO Blue Line light rail connected the Minneapolis entertainment district with the Metrodome and the Airport. The Metrodome

1440-772: The Minnesota Vixen . They also invited teams to play in Winnipeg and played some of their games in Brandon , Manitoba. In 2011, the Fearless became a charter member of the WWCFL, joining the Prairie Conference along with three new teams: The Winnipeg Nomads Wolfpack, the Saskatoon Valkyries , and the Regina Riot . Wilson was instrumental in the formation of the new league, and served as its first commissioner. The close proximity of

1536-527: The Pontiac Silverdome near Detroit , paved the way for voters to approve funding for a new stadium. Downtown Minneapolis was beginning a revitalization program, and the return of professional sports from suburban Bloomington was seen as a major success story; a professional team had not been based in downtown Minneapolis since the Minneapolis Lakers left for Los Angeles in 1960. Construction on

1632-510: The University of Minnesota 's TCF Bank Stadium for the 2014 and 2015 NFL seasons, ahead of the planned opening of U.S. Bank Stadium in 2016. The stadium had a fiberglass fabric roof that was self-supported by air pressure and was the third major sports facility to have this feature (the first two being the Pontiac Silverdome and the Carrier Dome ). The Metrodome was similar in design to

1728-973: The 2018 season. Of note head coach, Laura Brown, and her coaching staff were named the WFA All-American Coaches for the 2018 American Conference. Later, in October 2019 Owner Laura Brown was voted onto the Owner's Board for the WFA. In 2019, Ryan McCauley was brought in as head coach along with several other coaching staff including R.J. Speidel as the Defensive Coordinator, Matt O'Keefe as Running Backs Coach, and Shaun Mattson with Jim Speidel as Quarterbacks Coaches. Furthermore, two long term Vixen players, Jessica Giesemann and Michele Braun retired from their playing careers to step into coaching roles with linebackers and offensive Line respectively. Coaches J. Alfred Potter, Bruce Brevitz and Jason Cornelison have continued in their respective positions as well to complete

1824-403: The 2019 coaching staff. Returning to the Vixen coaching staff to help with wide receivers is former Vixen coach Emilie Sundberg. In an effort to expand the Vixen fan base, the team moved stadiums to the suburb of Edina and also joined forces with RICCI Media to be the first Women's football team to expand their broadcasts to include all road games as well as home games. In 2020, like most teams in

1920-492: The Gopher football game had to be moved to a time suitable to allow the grounds crew to convert the playing field and the stands to the football configuration. The last month of Major League Baseball's regular season often included one or two Saturdays in which the Twins and Gophers used Metrodome on the same day. On those occasions, the Twins game would start at about 11 am local time (TV announcer Dick Bremer sometimes joked that

2016-535: The Metrodome began on December 20, 1979, and was funded by a limited hotel-motel and liquor tax, local business donations, and payments established within a special tax district near the stadium site. Uncovering the Dome by Amy Klobuchar (now a U.S. Senator ) describes the 10-year effort to build the venue. The stadium was named in memory of former mayor of Minneapolis, U.S. Senator, and U.S. Vice President Hubert Humphrey , who died in 1978. The building's construction

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2112-414: The Metrodome was designed to do was "get fans in, let 'em see a game, and let 'em go home." Five times in the stadium's history, heavy snows or other weather conditions have significantly damaged the roof and in four instances caused it to deflate. Four of the five incidents occurred within the stadium's first five years of operation: On November 19, 1981, a rapid accumulation of over a foot of snow caused

2208-618: The Metrodome was the 1982 opener on September 12, when the Vikings defeated the Tampa Bay Buccaneers , 17–10. Rickey Young scored the first regular-season touchdown in the dome on a 3-yard run in the 2nd quarter. On January 9, 1983, the Vikings defeated the Atlanta Falcons , 30–24, in a 1st-round game that was the first playoff game at the Metrodome. On January 17, 1999, the Falcons defeated

2304-439: The Metrodome would begin. On February 10, 2014, shortly after 9:15 a.m., after more than two months of preliminary work that dated back all the way to the groundbreaking of the new Vikings stadium, demolition of the stadium walls finally began. Just after 1 p.m. on February 17, 2014, one week after demolition of the stadium bowl had begun, demolition crews were working on taking down the concrete ring beam that encircled to top of

2400-402: The Metrodome, when a portion of the ring beam collapsed out of sequence, bringing an immediate halt to the work. No one was hurt and no equipment was damaged by the collapse. After five days of investigation from structural and demolition experts, it was decided that the remaining portion of the concrete ring beam would be destroyed using controlled explosive charges—virtually the same method that

2496-569: The Metropolitan Sports Facilities Commission adopted a twofold strategy: When snow accumulation was expected, hot air was pumped into the space between the roof's two layers. Workers also climbed on the roof and used steam and high-powered hot-water hoses to melt snow. In addition, before the storm that caused the December 2010 collapse, the inside of the stadium was heated to nearly 80  °F (26.7  °C ). To maintain

2592-825: The National Conference Semifinal game to the Delaware Griffins. Once again, the Vixen finished 6–4, second place in the North Division, and qualified for a playoff spot. Although they defeated the Indiana Speed in the National Conference Semifinal, the Vixen lost to the New York Dazzles in the National Conference Championship game. The Vixen finished 2–6 and third place in the National Conference, East Division. In their final year in

2688-505: The New York Sharks at home stadium Simley Athletic Field setting a new attendance record of over 1,100 fans. The Vixen won the game in double overtime with a 101-yard interception returned for a touchdown by rookie Crystal Ninas. The winning play was highlighted on ESPN's Sports Center's Top Tens Plays of the Week and earned the Vixen's firsts ever conference title. The Vixen then went on to face

2784-541: The Plexiglas removed, it would have been a potential home run ball. The Metrodome was constructed in an area of downtown Minneapolis known as "Industry Square". Development in the Downtown East neighborhood around Metrodome took many years to materialize. For many years, there were few bars or restaurants nearby where fans could gather, and tailgating was expressly forbidden in most parking areas. The City of Minneapolis

2880-465: The Prairie Conference standings for the first time; however, they lost a re-match to Regina in the playoff Quarterfinals. The progress of the Fearless was put on hold for two years as the WWCFL cancelled both the 2020 and 2021 seasons due to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the Fearless took a major step when the league resumed play in 2022. They again beat Regina during the regular season and finished 2nd in

2976-637: The Prairie Conference. This time, they managed to get past Regina in the playoffs, defeating the Riot 20–13. They went on to advance to their first WWCFL championship game. In the final, they lost to the Valkyries by a score of 36–6. The following lists women from the Manitoba Fearless who have competed in the IFAF Women's World Championship as members of Team Canada . Minnesota Vixen The Minnesota Vixen

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3072-483: The Riot won their first in 2015, the two Saskatchewan-based teams losing only to each other. The Fearless came close to breaking through in the 2018 playoffs when they lost a tight quarterfinal match to Saskatoon by a score of 16–13. A breakthrough finally came in 2019 when the Fearless were able to defeat the Riot 34–9 in Regina on 5 May. It was Manitoba's first win over Regina in ten tries. The win helped Manitoba finish 2nd in

3168-657: The Twin Cities. Also this year Brian Mr AnnouncerGuy Sweeney and Alex Westad took over the broadcast of the road games to again give Vixen Fans a chance to see 100% of the team's games. Along with his many team duties, Brian continued to expand his league role by hosting a weekly show for For The Fans Network to highlight the WFA's Game of the Week. * = Current Standing 2001 2002 WPFL No season due to COVID-19 Regular season Postseason Regular season Postseason Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome The Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome (commonly called

3264-633: The Twins except for World Series games. In 1987, the Vikings' home date with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers scheduled for the same day as Game 2 of the World Series was moved to Tampa, and the Vikings' game with the Denver Broncos scheduled for the same day as Game 7 was pushed back to the following Monday night. The Twins' 2009 AL Central division tiebreaker with the Detroit Tigers was played on Tuesday, October 6, 2009. One-game playoffs are normally held

3360-509: The University of Minnesota men's baseball team had announced plans to play all of their 2011 games at the Metrodome; however, the roof collapse caused those plans to be abandoned. On February 18, 2011, the Gophers announced that all 12 scheduled Big Ten home games in April and May would be played at Target Field , with three non-conference games moved to on-campus Siebert Field . On July 13, 2011, it

3456-798: The Utah Falconz in the IWFL World Championship Game in South Carolina losing 6–49. In 2017, the Minnesota Vixen departed the IWFL and joined the Women's Football Alliance (WFA) where they continued to compete on a national level with over 60 teams across the nation. Joining the coaching staff was Coach Stefan Dahl Holm as the Line Coach. The team finished the regular season 6–2. In the first round of

3552-526: The Vikings and Chicago Bears (originally scheduled at the Metrodome on December 20) to be relocated to TCF Bank Stadium. The final two games for the Vikings for the season were on the road , and the Vikings were already eliminated from the playoffs , meaning no additional home games were to be played. The roof collapse also caused schedule complications for the Golden Gophers baseball team. All Big Ten Conference home games were moved to Target Field ,

3648-718: The Vikings from 1982 to 2013 , the Twins from 1982 to 2009 , the National Basketball Association 's (NBA) Minnesota Timberwolves in their 1989–90 inaugural season , the Golden Gophers football team from 1982 to 2008, and the occasional home of the Golden Gophers baseball team from 1985 to 2010 and their full-time home in 2012. It was also the home of the Minnesota Strikers of the North American Soccer League in 1984. The Vikings played at

3744-571: The Vikings in the first NFC championship game played at the Metrodome. On December 29, 2013, the Vikings played their final game at the Metrodome, a 14–13 victory over the Detroit Lions. The team's record at the dome was 162–88 in the regular season and 6–4 in playoff games. They finished with a perfect record at the dome against the Arizona Cardinals (8–0), Baltimore Ravens (1–0), Cincinnati Bengals (4–0), and Houston Texans (1–0), but with

3840-486: The Vikings owners wanted more luxury suites and better concessions. Renovations were rejected twice, with the 2001 price tag at $ 269 million. The Vikings played their first game at the Metrodome in a preseason matchup against the Seattle Seahawks on August 21, 1982. Minnesota won 7–3. The first touchdown in the dome was scored by Joe Senser on an 11-yard pass from Tommy Kramer . The first regular-season game at

3936-735: The Vixen lost by a score of 31–7 to the North Division Champions and eventual NWFA runners-up West Michigan Mayhem . After the season ended, the Vixen switched leagues again, this time to the Independent Women's Football League . In 2014, the current owner Laura Brown acquired the Vixen and runs operations with co-owner James Brown. They named Brandon Pelinka head coach along with Damion Topping as defensive coordinator and Adam Griffith as special teams coordinator. The Vixen also brought in 2 new coaches: running backs coach Jeff Gehring and defensive backs coach Darrion Branscomb. That season,

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4032-609: The Vixen to form the WPFL's inaugural roster of teams. The Vixen would finish the regular season unbeaten at 5–0, clinch the Central Division title, and ensure home-field advantage throughout the American Conference playoffs. However, that playoff run would only last one game, as the Vixen lost the American Conference Championship Game to the eventual WPFL Champion Houston Energy by a score of 35–14. The Vixen played

4128-658: The Vixen went 6–2 and appeared in the Legacy Bowl, facing the Carolina Queens. In 2014, the Minnesota Vixen also established a relationship with Northwestern Health Sciences University as their Official Integrative Sports Care Provider. In 2015, the Vixen moved to their current home stadium, Simley Athletic Field in Inver Grove Heights and brought in Brian Mr Announcerguy Sweeney as the stadium voice for

4224-420: The Vixen's Special Teams Coordinator. Coming off the success of his previous three seasons as the voice of the Vixen, Brian Mr AnnouncerGuy Sweeney was asked by the WFA commissioner to become the broadcast voice for the Division 1 National Championship Games on ESPN. During the regular season, the Vixen defeated the Madison Blaze, the Wisconsin Dragons, the Detroit Dark Angels, the Columbus Vanguards and split

4320-427: The Vixen's record was 6–2 with an invite to the inaugural Legacy Bowl in South Carolina. In 2016, the team went undefeated in the regular season winning the IWFL Midwest Division. They then faced the New York Shark for the IWFL Eastern Conference Championship, winning in double overtime and appeared in the IWFL World Championship Game in South Carolina against the Utah Falconz. In 2017, the Vixen changed leagues and joined

4416-537: The Vixens lost the game by a score of 30–27, the tour's success inspired the expansion of the Women's Professional Football League to 11 teams in 2000. The success of the tour led Turner and Sullivan to form the Women's Professional Football League ; although the Minx would not join the Vixen in the WPFL's first full season, the Austin Rage, Colorado Valkyries, Daytona Beach Barracudas, Houston Energy , Miami Fury , New England Storm , New York Galaxy, New York Sharks , Oklahoma City Wildcats, and Tampa Tempest would join

4512-456: The WFA decided to give teams around the country time to get ready after so many of them were under different forms of restrictions. The league decided that the season would be shortened by 25% and the season would start in May instead of April. Coach McCauley returned for his 2nd season and the Vixen moved home games to Concordia St Paul. This centralized location between downtown Minneapolis and St Paul would help to bring in fans from all corners of

4608-432: The WPFL, the Vixen finished 2–5 and third place in the National Conference, North Division. Soon afterwards, the Vixen left the WPFL to join the National Women's Football Association . In their first and only year in the NWFA, the Vixen qualified for the playoffs for the first time in three years, finishing 6–2 and second place in the Northern Conference, North Division. However, that playoff run would only last one game, as

4704-510: The Women's Football Alliance (WFA) where they continue to compete on a national level. Since joining the WFA the Vixen have appeared in 3 national championship games, 2018, 2021 and 2022. Since 2015, the Vixen have partnered with Town Square Television to have all Minnesota Vixen home games televised live along with live web streaming. In 2019, the Vixen were the first women's team to offer live broadcast of all regular season games including both home and away via Town Square Television. Laura Brown

4800-432: The afternoon, was postponed to the next day and relocated to Ford Field in Detroit . There were considerations moving the game to the University of Minnesota's nearby TCF Bank Stadium . However, the stadium had limited seating capacity, as well as snow that would have taken several days to clear. A couple of days later, a fourth panel ripped open, allowing more snow to enter the stadium. This forced another game between

4896-409: The athletic world, The Vixen were forced to take a year off due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The team continued to safely train in their own time and will be ready for 2021. Not all was bad during 2020. The Vixen's longest tenured announcer, Brian Mr Announcerguy Sweeney was awarded the NASPAA Bob Shepard Announcer of the Year Award and recognized as the top high school announcer in the country. In 2021,

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4992-424: The broadcast was competing with SpongeBob SquarePants ). Afterward, the conversion took place and the Gophers football game started at about 6 pm. The University of Minnesota was the only school in the Big Ten that shared a football facility with professional sports teams for an extended period of years. In 2007, there were two such schedule conflicts, on September 1 and 22. In 2008, there were no conflicts on

5088-432: The city. Due to strong winds, hoses malfunctioning, and a hazardous slippery layer building up on the roof, workers were not allowed to remove the snow from the roof. As the workers were pulled back, many noticed that the roof's center was sagging down by the weight of the snow. At around 5:00 a.m. CST on December 12, three of the roof's panels tore open. Snow fell through, covering the turf field. The night before

5184-408: The closest front-row seats were at least 5 or 6 feet (1.5 or 1.8 m) above the field. The way that many seats were situated forced some fans to crane their necks to see the area between the pitcher's mound and home plate . Some fans near the foul poles had to turn more than 80°, compared to less than 70° with the original Yankee Stadium or 75° at Camden Yards . For that reason, the seats down

5280-423: The completion of the AFL–NFL merger , the NFL declared that stadiums with a capacity under 50,000 were not adequate. The Met never held more than 49,700 people for football, and could not be expanded. At the time, the biggest stadium in the area was the University of Minnesota 's Memorial Stadium . However, the Vikings were unwilling to be tenants in a college football stadium even on a temporary basis, and demanded

5376-457: The day after the regular season ends (in this case, the season ended on Sunday, October 4), but the Vikings were using Metrodome for Monday Night Football on October 5. The Twins were awarded the right to host the tiebreaker because they won the season series against Detroit. As the stadium was designed first and foremost for the Minnesota Vikings, they had the fewest problems. However, the economics of 21st century professional sports meant that

5472-445: The demolition of the Metrodome began the day after the facility hosted its final home game for the Minnesota Vikings on December 29, 2013, and the roof was deflated and demolition began on January 18, 2014. The Metrodome was torn down in sections while construction of U.S. Bank Stadium began. By the early 1970s, the Minnesota Vikings were unhappy with Metropolitan Stadium 's (the Met) relatively small capacity for football. Before

5568-409: The differential air pressure, spectators usually entered and left the seating and concourse areas through revolving doors, since the use of regular doors without an airlock would have caused significant loss of air pressure. The double-walled construction allowed warmed air to circulate beneath the top of the dome, melting accumulated snow. A sophisticated environmental control center in the lower part of

5664-408: The dome's support system. On the plus side, there was relatively little foul territory, which was not typical of most domed stadiums (especially those primarily built for football). Also, with the infield tucked into one corner of the stadium, the seats in the so-called "baseball section" had some of the closest views in Major League Baseball. In 2007, the Twins began selling seats in extra rows behind

5760-399: The eye off the ball. As a result, fielders frequently lost balls in the roof. An example of this is seen in a home run derby put on by a softball entertainment crew before a Twins game. Taken at the field level, the balls generally tended to be lost in the roof. During its early years of operation, the field at the Metrodome was surfaced with SuperTurf . The surface, also known as SporTurf,

5856-412: The field repair, the sliding pits and pitcher's mound used by the Twins and Gophers were removed. Any future baseball games would see baserunners slide on "grass". The home plate area was kept, as it was not "in-play" for football configuration. The original home plate installed at the dome was memorably dug up after the Twins' final game and has been installed at Target Field . A new field was installed in

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5952-445: The final truckload of rubble was loaded up and removed from the new stadium construction site. Officials from Mortenson Construction said the entire demolition job required 4,910 truckloads and 16,000 man hours to complete the job. The Metrodome is the only venue to have hosted an MLB All-Star Game (1985) , a Super Bowl ( 1992 ), an NCAA Final Four ( 1992 & 2001 ), and a World Series ( 1987 & 1991 ). The NCAA Final Four

6048-455: The final upper deck bleachers and concrete bleacher-support girders (on the northwest side of the Metrodome) were brought down, taking away any standing remnants of the exterior stadium walls. On April 11, 2014, the final portion of the inner-stadium concrete walls were reduced to rubble, marking the official end of the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome. Demolition of the Metrodome was formally declared complete six days later—a month ahead of schedule—as

6144-516: The former RCA Dome and to BC Place , though BC Place was reconfigured with a retractable roof in 2010. The Metrodome was the inspiration for the Tokyo Dome in Tokyo, Japan. The stadium was the only facility to have hosted a Super Bowl ( 1992 ), World Series ( 1987 , 1991 ), MLB All-Star Game ( 1985 ), and NCAA Division I Basketball Final Four ( 1992 , 2001 ). The Metrodome had several nicknames such as "The Dome", "The Thunderdome", "The Homer Dome", and "The Technodome". Preparation for

6240-498: The home stadium of Major League Baseball 's (MLB) Minnesota Twins . A Metrodome tournament was replaced with a three-game series against Gonzaga . Another tournament named the Dairy Queen Classic was relocated to Tucson, Arizona . Other changes included many home game cancellations, and some games being pushed to next year's season. On February 10, 2011, it was announced that the entire Metrodome roof needed to be replaced at an estimated cost of $ 18 million. In November 2010,

6336-447: The incident a Fox Sports crew, who were setting up for the football game between the New York Giants and Vikings, noticed water was leaking through the roof. They decided to leave their cameras on; the cameras captured footage of the roof deflation and the snow dropping to the field. The footage was aired on Fox NFL Sunday and quickly went viral. The game between the Vikings and Giants, scheduled to take place on December 12 during

6432-424: The left-field line were typically among the last ones sold; the (less expensive) outfield lower deck seating tended to fill up sooner. Nearly 1,400 seats were at least partially obstructed – some of them due to the right-field upper deck being directly above (and somewhat overhanging) the folded-up football seats behind right field; and some of them due to steel beams in the back rows of the upper deck which are part of

6528-493: The loudest venues in which to view a game, due in part to the fact that sound was recycled throughout the stadium because of the fabric domed roof. Stadium loudness is a sports marketing issue, as the noise lends the home team a home advantage against the visiting team . Until its demolition, the Metrodome was the loudest domed NFL stadium; most notably, during the 1987 World Series and 1991 World Series , peak decibel levels were measured at 125 and 118 respectively compared to

6624-407: The new Wolfpack team ensured the creation of a lasting rivalry between the two Winnipeg-based teams, but both found themselves consistently at the bottom of the Prairie Conference standings as the Valkyries and Riot dominated the new league. In the inaugural season, the Fearless opted to forfeit their first-round playoff match against the Riot. The Valkyries won the first four WWCFL championships before

6720-411: The plate which were previously only used for football. The sight lines were also very good in the right field corner, which faced the infield and was closer to the action than the left field corner. Unlike most domed stadiums, the Metrodome's baseball configuration had asymmetrical outfield dimensions. The Twins stopped selling most of the seats in sections 203–212 of the upper level in 1996. This area

6816-414: The playoffs, the Vixen were victorious over the Kansas City Titans, only to fall to the Dallas Elite in round 2. Dallas then continued on to win the WFA 2018 Division I National Championship. The new tradition of winning continued with the Vixen as they completed their twentieth season 7–1 and rolled through the playoffs to reach the WFA Division II National Championship. Owner Laura Brown stepped in to lead

6912-405: The regular-season schedule. Due to the minimum time needed to convert the field, a baseball game that ran long in clock time had to be suspended, and concluded the next day. The only time this happened was on October 2, 2004, when a game between the Twins and Indians reached the end of the 11th inning after 2:30 pm in a tie and resumed the next day. The Vikings had rights to the Dome over

7008-428: The roof the largest expanse ever done in that manner. The outside Teflon membrane was 1 ⁄ 32 of an inch thick and the inner liner of woven fiberglass was 1 ⁄ 64 of an inch thick. The entire roof weighed roughly 580,000 pounds (260,000 kg). It reached 195 ft (59 m), or about 16 stories, at its highest point. To prevent roof tears like those that occurred in its first years of service,

7104-494: The roof to collapse, requiring it to be re-inflated. It deflated the following winter on December 30, 1982, because of a tear caused by a crane used in snow removal. This was four days before the Vikings played the Dallas Cowboys in the last regular-season game of the 1982 NFL season . In the spring following that same winter, on April 14, 1983, the Metrodome roof deflated because of a tear caused by late-season heavy snow, and

7200-405: The roof were severed, as construction crews set off a simultaneous set of 42 explosive charges that detached the cables from the concrete structure. The general public was not informed about this phase of the demolition process, prompting about a half-dozen phone calls to police from people who wondered what was going on. This was viewed as the final step before the destruction of the concrete bowl of

7296-574: The scheduled Twins game with the California Angels was postponed. On April 26, 1986, the Metrodome roof suffered a slight tear because of high winds, causing a nine-minute delay in the bottom of the seventh inning versus the Angels; however, the roof did not deflate. A severe snowstorm arrived in Minneapolis in the late evening of December 10. The snowstorm lasted to the following night on December 11, with 17 in (43 cm) of snow accumulated across

7392-604: The series with the Kansas City Titans resulting in their only loss in the regular season. After a first round bye in the playoffs, the Vixen then hosted the Wisconsin Dragons followed by the Mile High Blaze to become the WFA 2018 American Conference Champions and secure a spot in the national championship game where they faced the New York Sharks. The Sharks were victorious leaving the Vixen with an overall 9–2 record on

7488-487: The speakers in foul ground near the infield, which were typically hit several times a season, which posed an extra challenge to infielders trying to catch them. However, beginning with the 2005 season, the ground rules for Twins games were changed such that any batted ball that struck a speaker in the foul territory would automatically be called a foul ball, regardless of whether or not it was caught. The dome's roof color made it close to impossible to catch balls without taking

7584-436: The stadium was staffed to monitor the weather and make adjustments in air distribution to maintain the roof. Because it was unusually low to the playing field, the air-inflated dome occasionally figured into game action during baseball games. Major League Baseball had specific ground rules for the Metrodome. Any ball which struck the Dome roof, or objects hanging from it, remained in play; if it landed in foul territory it became

7680-540: The summer of 2011 due to the damage from the December 2010 roof collapse. From 1985 to 1994, the left-field wall included a 6-foot (1.8 m) clear Plexiglas screen for a total height of 13 feet (4.0 m). It was off this Plexiglas wall that Twins player Kirby Puckett jumped to rob Ron Gant of the Atlanta Braves of an extra-base hit during Game 6 of the 1991 World Series (a game that Puckett would win with an 11th-inning walk-off homer ) – in later years, with

7776-473: The team. In addition, Town Square Television started televising all Vixen home games and offering live web-stream as well. The team had another successful year, finishing 6–2, just missing the post-season. The Vixen added Coach Danny Ekstrand as wide receivers coach in 2016. The Vixen team then went undefeated (8–0) with the Vixen defense only allowing one touchdown the entire regular season. They earned their first IWFL Midwest Division Title. The Vixen then hosted

7872-530: The way as the new head coach with Assistant Head coach, Jeff Gehring. Notably, Coach Laura Brown was the first female head coach of the Minnesota Vixen. Other new additions to the Vixen coaching staff included Defensive Coordinator Nick Leach, Wide Receivers Coach J. Alfred Potter, Line Coaches John Taylor and Bruce Brevitz, Strength and Conditioning Coach Andrew Carbone, Line Backers intern Jason Cornelison and newly promoted Offensive Coordinator Danny Ekstrand. Coach Adam Griffith continued on, now in his tenth season as

7968-415: The wrecking ball demolition method that was originally chosen (though the order in which the sections would be brought down were changed as a result of the ring beam implosion), to bring down what was left of the Metrodome. Despite this unexpected setback, Mortenson Construction said that the demolition of the Metrodome and construction of U.S. Bank Stadium were both still on schedule. On March 15, 2014,

8064-429: Was announced that the roof was repaired and had been inflated that morning. However, other construction and repairs were still in progress. The remaining construction and repairs were done by August 1, 2011. With the approval of the new Vikings stadium at the Metrodome site by the Minnesota legislature, the fate of the Metrodome was sealed. The Vikings played their final game at the Metrodome on December 29, 2013, beating

8160-474: Was built to when it was demolished, the economics of sports marketing changed. Teams began charging higher prices for tickets and demanding more amenities, such as bigger clubhouses and locker rooms , more luxury suites, and more concession revenue. Team owners, the media, and fans pressured the State of Minnesota to provide newer, better facilities to host its teams. The Metrodome served its primary purpose: to provide

8256-428: Was designed by Bangladeshi-American architect Fazlur Rahman Khan , of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill . The Metrodome itself cost $ 68 million to build—significantly under budget—totaling around $ 124 million with infrastructure and other costs associated with the project added. It was a somewhat utilitarian facility, though not quite as spartan as Metropolitan Stadium. One stadium official once said that all

8352-771: Was directing the development of the entertainment districts along with Seven Corners in Cedar-Riverside , Hennepin Avenue, and the Warehouse district . The Metrodome existed among several parking areas built upon old rail yards, along with defunct factories and warehouses. The Star Tribune owns several blocks nearby that have remained parking lots. The Metrodome was not connected to the Minneapolis Skyway System , although that had been proposed in 1989 to be completed in time to host Super Bowl XXVI . The Star Tribune properties and

8448-569: Was held at the Metrodome in 1992 and 2001 . The Metrodome also served as one of the four regional venues for the NCAA Division I Basketball Championship in 1986 , 1989 , 1996 , 2000 , 2003 , 2006 , and 2009 . The dome also held first- and second-round games in the NCAA basketball tournament in addition to regionals and the Final Four, most recently in 2009 . The Metrodome was recognized as one of

8544-518: Was installed in 1983. Before 1983, the Dome had been nicknamed "the Sweat Box". The Metrodome was climate controlled, and protected the baseball schedule during the entire time it was the venue for the Minnesota Twins. Major League Baseball schedulers had the luxury of being able to count on dates played at Metrodome. Doubleheader games only occurred when purposely scheduled. The last time that happened

8640-498: Was more than suitable for the Vikings and Gophers, with few exceptions this resulted in poor sightlines for baseball. For instance, the seats directly along the left-field line faced the center field and right field fences. Unlike other major league parks, there were no seats down to field level. Only 8,000 seats were located in the lower deck between home plate and the dugouts, where most game action occurs. Seats in these areas were popularly known as "the baseball section." However, even

8736-406: Was not a true multi-purpose stadium. Rather, it was built as a football stadium that could convert into a baseball stadium. The seating configuration was almost rectangular in shape, with the baseball field tucked into one corner. The seats along the four straight sides directly faced their corresponding seats on the opposite side, while the seats in the corners were four quarter-circles. While this

8832-432: Was supplied by 20 fans of 90 hp (67 kW) each. The roof was made of two layers: the outer layers were Teflon -coated fiberglass and the inner was a proprietary acoustical fabric. By design, the dead air space between the layers insulated the roof; in winter, warm air was blown into space between layers to help melt snow that had accumulated on top. At the time it was built, the 10 acres (4.0 ha) of fabric made

8928-480: Was used to bring down the Metrodome's steel support cables for the roof. This second controlled explosion was a continued deviation from the original plan to not use explosives to destroy the stadium, as it was determined that this was the safest way to bring down the remaining ring beam structure. On February 23, 2014, the remaining ring beam and corners of the Metrodome were brought down with 84 explosive charges of dynamite. This enabled demolition crews to continue with

9024-406: Was usually curtained off during the regular season. However, the stadium could easily be expanded to full capacity for the postseason, or when popular opponents came to town during the regular season. As part of the deal with Metrodome, the Minnesota Twins had post-season priority over the Gophers in scheduling. If the Twins were in the playoffs with a home series, the baseball game took priority and

9120-399: Was very bouncy—so bouncy, in fact, that Billy Martin once protested a game after seeing a base hit that would normally be a pop single turn into a ground-rule double. Baseball and football players alike complained that it was too hard. This surface was upgraded to AstroTurf in 1987, and in 2004, the sports commission had a newer artificial surface, called FieldTurf , installed. FieldTurf

9216-757: Was when the Twins scheduled a day-night doubleheader against the Kansas City Royals on August 31, 2007. The doubleheader was necessitated after an August 2 game vs. Kansas City was postponed one day after the I-35W Bridge collapse in downtown Minneapolis. The Metrodome's air-supported roof was designed by the inventor of air-supported structures, David H. Geiger , through his New York-based Geiger Berger Associates, and manufactured and installed by Birdair Structures . An air-supported structure supported by positive air pressure, it required 250,000 ft /min (120 m /s) of air to keep it inflated. The air pressure

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