The University of Minnesota entered into a five-year partnership with Caribou Coffee Tuesday, making the company the official coffee of Gopher Athletics. Starting in the 2009-10 school year, the coffee will be sold at all Gopher athletic venues, including TCF Bank Stadium in the premium suites, loge boxes, club rooms, select concessions and the Press Box and within Mariucci Arena, Williams Arena and other venues. The partnership was secured by Gopher Sports Properties, which is a property of Learfield Sports that manages the multimedia rights for Gopher Athletics. Nate Schultz, account executive of Gopher Sports Properties, said Caribou Coffee is developing a special Gopher-branded blend for the venues, which will also be sold in their stores. âÄúWeâÄôre obviously very excited to have a Minnesota-based company join us, and one with a very prominent national brand,âÄù Schultz said. âÄúI think the presence that they have throughout the state of Minnesota with over 200 stores and the brand and fan following that we have will be a good tie.âÄù