Q: On what date and year did the stadium open?
A: April 3, 1982
Q: How much did the Metrodome cost to build?
A: $55 Million
Q: What was the first football game played in the Metrodome and what was the final score?
A: August 21, 1982: Minnesota 7, Seattle 3
Q: What's the playing surface made of?
A: Astroturf
Q: What's the roof made out of?
A: 10 acres of Teflon-coated fiberglass
Q: What keeps the roof up?
A: 20 electric fans
Q: What is the seating capacity of the Dome for football games?
A: 64,121
Q: How did Thor's Thunder Zone get its name?
A: The area to the right of the Vikings bench was self-proclaimed by the fans as Thor's Thunder Zone. It got its name from the Minnesota Vikings Fans electronic mailing list onthe Internet, that's us.
The idea began with one Viking Fan, Brian K. Maas of Plymouth, Minn., who proudly uses the nick name "Mr. Cheer or Die." In mid-August, Maas wrote a note to his fellow Internet Viking Fans suggesting they name the end zone section in which he and other rabid Viking fans have season tickets. Hundreds of e-mail responses later, Maas chose the name Thor's Thunder Zone, submitted by Tom Grier, a Viking Fan who lives in Fountain City, Wis. Another Internet Viking Fan, Michael O'Keefe, a native born Minnesotan now living in Milwaukee, Wis., suggested the group also use "horns of thunder" to build some of the deafening noise the Metrodome is now famous for.
While some suggested that special horns of thunder could be manufactured, sponsored and sold or given away to other fans for profit, Maas' intentions in this project are pure.
"I want the visiting offense dreading the thought of driving into my endzone," Maas wrote in an Internet posting. "I want them practicing the week before with speakers blaring at their field. I want them thinking about which endzone to defend if they win the toss. One mental error because of fan noise could win a game for the Vikes. That is what this is all about. ... just (make) NOISE Baby!"
Thank you to Vikings.com for part of this Metrodome information!
