When the University of Minnesota provided free use of TCF Bank Stadium for an MLB-sponsored concert in 2014, the school lost at least $128,000 in potential revenue.
On Tuesday, the Professional Student Government criticized the athletics department’s trade with MLB, and called for University leaders to charge fees to any external parties that rent the stadium.
The proposal comes on the heels of an external audit that revealed that former athletics director Norwood Teague traded MLB use of the school’s stadium in exchange for a box suite at Target Field and 50 tickets for administrators and athletics department employees.
The bill asks the University guarantee its policies require rental fees and “ensure external parties do not free-ride” on students, who pay $12.50 a semester to support TCF.
“We want the University to be sure that there are arrangements that do not include any free or at-cost use of the stadium or any building that is specially student funded,” PSG President Kyle Kroll said.
Sue Weinberg, director of Real Estate, which helps arrange rentals of University buildings, said it encourages departments to rent at private-sector rates.
“One could argue that the MLB All-Star game was an event that brought a lot of good PR to the community,” she said. “It was judged to be an appropriate University contribution to the MLB All-Star game festivities.”