Joel Maturi - U of M
Posted by Steve Frazier
Our Speaker at the January 6th meeting was Joel Maturi, the Athletic Director at the University of Minnesota. He started his presentation listing his two claims to fame. As a native of Chisholm, there wasn't too much going on in town when he grew up, but the doctor portrayed in the movie "Field of Dreams" was actually his family doctor. His second claim was that he coached Chris Farley (of SNL fame) in high school. (Story written by Tad Shaw)
He became the AD at the U of M in 2002, and his first challenge was to merge the separate men's and women's athletic departments into one program. At the time he started, the projerction was that the two athletic departments would have a $31,000,000 loss by today. By merging, and eliminating the duplication of jobs, the department is actually (just barely) in the black now. He oversees a budget of $70,000,000, and has a staff of 215 full-time employees. On event days, there are also a lot of part-time workers who handle ushering, food, and a whole bunch of event management tasks.
When the Vikings came to town in '61, there was an immediate and lasting effect on attendance at football games. The new on-campus stadium will help change that, with 50,000-plus seats in a modern facility. The new stadium on campus will bring back the thrill of the team to the campus, and the $288,500,000. building is being built with the substructure able to support a deck above the present seats and increase capacity over 80,000.
The Athletic Department was charged with raising $86,000,000 of the cost of the building, and they are $6,000,000. short at the present time. They are selling bricks now to complete their obligation.
He became the AD at the U of M in 2002, and his first challenge was to merge the separate men's and women's athletic departments into one program. At the time he started, the projerction was that the two athletic departments would have a $31,000,000 loss by today. By merging, and eliminating the duplication of jobs, the department is actually (just barely) in the black now. He oversees a budget of $70,000,000, and has a staff of 215 full-time employees. On event days, there are also a lot of part-time workers who handle ushering, food, and a whole bunch of event management tasks.
When the Vikings came to town in '61, there was an immediate and lasting effect on attendance at football games. The new on-campus stadium will help change that, with 50,000-plus seats in a modern facility. The new stadium on campus will bring back the thrill of the team to the campus, and the $288,500,000. building is being built with the substructure able to support a deck above the present seats and increase capacity over 80,000.
The Athletic Department was charged with raising $86,000,000 of the cost of the building, and they are $6,000,000. short at the present time. They are selling bricks now to complete their obligation.