page_title: Metropolitan Stadium
section_title: Final years and demise
hierarchical_section_title: Metropolitan Stadium / History / Final years and demise
caption_attribution_description: English: View of an abandoned Metropolitan Stadium, circa 1984, after the Minnesota Twins and Minnesota Vikings moved out.
context_page_description: Metropolitan Stadium was a sports stadium that once stood in Bloomington, Minnesota, just outside Minneapolis and St. Paul. The Minneapolis Millers minor league baseball team played at Met Stadium from 1956 to 1960. The Minnesota Twins and the Minnesota Vikings then played at the "Met" from 1961 to 1981. The North American Soccer League soccer team Minnesota Kicks also played there from 1976 to 1981.
  The area where the stadium once stood is now the site of the Mall of America.
context_section_description: The Met's fate was essentially sealed when, as part of the AFL-NFL Merger, the NFL declared that stadiums smaller than 50,000 were inadequate for its needs; at its height the Met only seated 48,700 for football, and it could not be expanded. However, the Vikings would not even consider playing at the University of Minnesota's Memorial Stadium, and demanded a brand-new stadium as a condition of staying in town. At one point, the city of Bloomington had plans to place a dome over Metropolitan Stadium, or build a new football stadium located between the Met and the Met Center, which had opened in 1967 just north of the Met. Since football-only stadiums were not seen as viable at the time, the Twins decided not to renew their lease at the Met after the 1981 season. This accelerated the push for construction of a new stadium, the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome, which was completed in 1982.
  However, it is very likely that a new stadium would have been needed in any event, as the Met was not well maintained. By the park's final season, railings in the grandstand's third deck had become a major safety hazard. Additionally, players had begun to complain about the quality of the field; the infield in particular was considered the worst in the majors. Rumors abounded that the Metropolitan Sports Facilities Commission, which by then had taken over the stadium from the city of Minneapolis, had deliberately let the Met go to seed in order to aid the push for the Metrodome.
  The Minnesota Kicks' last regular season game at Met Stadium was a 2–1 victory over the Dallas Tornado on August 19, 1981. The team's last game at the Met was a 1-0 shoot out play off victory against the Tulsa Roughnecks on August 26, 1981. The team's last game played was a home playoff loss 3–0 to the Fort Lauderdale Strikers on September 6, 1981. The game was moved to the University of Minnesota's Memorial Stadium due to a scheduling conflict with the Twins.
  The Twins played their last game at the Met on September 30, 1981, losing to the Kansas City Royals 5–2 on a rainy afternoon. The night before the final game, home plate was stolen, and after the final game ended, hundreds of fans gathered on the field, searching (mostly unsuccessfully) for mementoes.
  The Vikings played their last game on December 20, 1981, dropping a 10-6 decision to the Kansas City Chiefs. Fans, sensing that this was the final game of any sort at the stadium, were more determined to claim souvenirs. In preparation, the Vikings tripled their security force for the contest. In the game's final minutes, many of the 41,110 fans in attendance began dismantling seats and bleachers, and thousands stormed the field once the game ended. The goal posts were torn down, pieces of sod from the field were dug up, and speakers and lightbulbs on the scoreboard were removed. Hundreds of injuries were reported, mostly minor scrapes and bruises but also multiple head injuries sustained during the melee.
  Met Stadium was officially abandoned when the Vikings and the Twins moved to the Metrodome in January 1982 and the Kicks folded after the 1981 soccer season. For the next 3 years, Met Stadium sat unused, decaying and highly vandalized. Demolition kickoff for Metropolitan Stadium started on January 28, 1985 and continued for the next 4 months. After the rubble was cleared, the lot sat vacant for several years, although the nearby Met Center continued to provide entertainment for hockey fans.
caption: An abandoned Metropolitan Stadium, circa 1984.
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