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If A Businessman Wants to Gift a University with no Stadium

If A Businessman Wants to Gift a University with no Stadium

    If an alumni businessman wants to gift a university with no stadium like Minnesota, you would take the money right?  Well four years ago the Gophers turned down a $35 million donation and kept playing in the Metrodome where they had no home field advantage at all.

    T. Denny Sanford has donated over $431 million to medical causes this past year and wants to try to donate again, this time for the completion of the TCF Bank Stadium under construction on Minnesota’s campus.

    A number of institutions and organizations have stepped in to help fund the $288.5 million project. The State of Minnesota is paying 48% of the costs. The Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community is donating $10 million. TCF Financial Corporation is buying $35 million in naming rights. And a number of ‘smaller’ donors include Best Buy ($3 million), Dairy Queen ($2.5 million), Target Corporation ($2 million), Federated Insurance, General Mills and Norwest Equity Partners.

    All that is left is one final $11 million that the university is hoping Sanford will donate without all the strings that were attached to the $35 million he donated 4 years ago. The university has worked with Sanford recently on a state-of the art golf practice range, so there is a good chance the final funding for TCF Bank Stadium (It could have been called the Half Shoe as it will have a horseshoe design.) will be in place soon. 2009 can’t come soon enough when the team will play in their new 50,000 seat stadium.

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