Vikings announce 2017 to be final training camp in Mankato
The inevitable has been announced: this training camp will be the Minnesota Vikings’ final run in Mankato.
Most fans knew Mankato’s days were numbered to host the Minnesota Vikings‘ training camp practices. Most also knew the Vikings were building a new training facility in Eagan, MN called the Twin Cities Orthopedics (TCO) Performance Center. What most did not know was how soon the facility would be ready.
According to Vikings Public Relations, the TCO Performance Center will start hosting offseason programs for the Vikings in 2018. The TCO Performance Center should finish construction in the early parts of 2018 and be ready for use when needed for the start of the Vikings’ season.
Minnesota State University, Mankato has housed the Vikings for training camp for the past 51 years. 2017 will be the University’s 52nd and final year hosting the purple. 2018 is the 150th anniversary of Minnesota State Univesity, Mankato and the Vikings will part ways just before that celebration begins.
Although the Vikings will not be around for the University’s 150th-year celebration, the Vikings intend to make the final training camp in southern Minnesota a memorable one for fans and the University. Most of the festivities can be found here and include, but are not limited to, a commemorative poster and playbook available for the fans. The team will also have a recognition ceremony followed by a community thank you event for the end of training camp August 5th and 7th.
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Vikings Executive Vice President of Public Affairs, Lester Bagley, describes the move as “an opportunity to bring our players into a state-of-the-art facility.”
TCO Performance Center boasts an eventual expanded-capacity of 10,000 seats. Vikings’ officials are hopeful that the facility in Eagan will host as many fans as Mankato did last year. 64,000 fans attended Vikings’ training camp last year in Mankato alone. As of now, the Vikings plan to keep TCO Performance Center practices open to the public.
Training camp is always fun for the fans and this season should be a truly special one down in Mankato. Of course, Sporting Sota will bring more coverage of training camp once the time arrives next week.
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