Metropolitan Stadium: Where Minnesota Sports Were Born

Before the Metrodome. Before Target Field. Before US Bank Stadium. Minnesota's teams played outside, in the elements, at Metropolitan Stadium — and for a generation of Minnesota sports fans, that was exactly how it should be.

The Stadium

Metropolitan Stadium opened in 1956 in Bloomington, Minnesota, built to attract a major league baseball team to the Twin Cities. It worked: the Washington Senators relocated to Minnesota in 1961 and became the Twins, and the Met became their home. The Minnesota Vikings joined them in 1961 as well, making the Met one of the few stadiums in America to host both a major league baseball team and an NFL franchise simultaneously.

The stadium sat in the open air of the Minnesota prairie, which meant playing in conditions that ranged from beautiful summer evenings to brutal late-season cold. Vikings fans in particular became legendary for their willingness to sit through December games in temperatures that would empty stadiums in warmer cities. The Met's cold-weather games became part of Minnesota sports mythology.

The Moments

Metropolitan Stadium hosted some of the most memorable moments in Minnesota sports history. The Twins played there through their early years, building a fanbase that would eventually celebrate World Series championships. The Vikings played there through their great 1970s teams — Fran Tarkenton, Carl Eller, the Purple People Eaters — reaching four Super Bowls in that era.

The End

The Met closed in 1981 when the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome opened in downtown Minneapolis. The stadium was demolished in 1985. The site is now occupied by the Mall of America — a marker in the mall's parking lot shows where home plate once stood.

The Metropolitan Stadium Minneapolis Retro T-shirt is for Twins fans, Vikings fans, and anyone who loves Minnesota sports history. Find it in the Twin Cities collection.