Football at Target Field? Johnnies vs. Tommies slated for 2017
The Twins sent out a news release Friday morning announcing a press conference Monday to provide details on a football game that will be played at Target Field in 2017.
The release didn’t provide any other details — teams? High school? College? – but multiple sources said the matchup will be MIAC rivals St. John’s vs. St. Thomas.
More official information will be provided Monday.
Target Field has never hosted a football game, though officials have been working for a while on scheduling one. Twins President Dave St. Peter has said in the past that the field could be configured either down the middle or from left to right field. Here’s how the field looked this summer when it was configured for a Minnesota United FC soccer match.
A report in the Fargo Forum last month indicated there could be a North Dakota State football game there as soon as 2018.
St. John’s vs. St. Thomas is one of the area’s best college football rivalries, particularly with both programs riding high. St. Thomas is ranked No. 4 in the latest Division III poll, while St. John’s is No. 12.
Until a week ago, the two schools held the Division III record for largest single-game attendance -- a mark eclipsed when 17,535 watched UW-Whitewater and UW-Oshkosh. But Johnnies vs. Tommies still accounts for three of the top-five most attended games in D-III history, and a game at Target Field could shatter any existing attendance record.