David Shama's Minnesota Sports Headliners

Vikes Revel in State Hosting ’28 NFL Draft, Consider Combine

Posted on June 14, 2026June 14, 2026 by David Shama

Minnesota has a history over the last 40 years of being the site for many of the biggest sports events in America. Now comes another triumph with Minnesota Sports and Events (the non-profit regional sports commission) hosting the 2028 NFL Draft in partnership with the Vikings.

Vikings executive Lester Bagley, who works with MNSE, described bringing the draft here for the first time as a “huge honor.” In a recent interview with Sports Headliners, he talked in depth about the draft and other possible NFL events that hold his interest and that of MNSE which represents Minneapolis, Saint Paul and Bloomington.

The annual draft, including the first round, draws huge TV audiences with numbers at times reportedly over 13 million. At the various host cities, attendance records keep being set with Pittsburgh this spring going over 800,000.

“When they come to Minnesota, we’re not gonna break the record,” Bagley said. “It’s going to be more of a unique, Minnesota iconic event. So, TBD on a lot of that.

“What does it look like (for instance) …using the Mississippi River front (and the) Nicollet Mall? It’s clear that it will be on…the commons (area) on the doorstep of US Bank Stadium (as the draft event anchor).”

Minneapolis has been the site of two Super Bowls and Bagley noted that the draft is “not as corporate” as the biggest annual event in American sports. Spread over three days, the draft offers a variety of free activities for fans including the throng that stands in front of the stage when the 32 NFL teams make their player selections.

There will be immersive NFL exhibits, games, and entertainment. Live entertainment and community events will be part of how Minnesota localizes the draft experience.

Getting the nod from NFL headquarters to play host doesn’t come from making a few phone calls. Bagley said the Vikings and MNSE worked for more than five years to make it on the schedule as a future draft city.

The group showed NFL leaders its vision and plan. They attended each draft and stayed in front of league leaders with lobbying efforts. “We wore them down. Commissioner (Roger) Goodell told me that directly,” Bagley said.

The draft will economically benefit not just Minneapolis, but other parts of the metro including Bloomington and Saint. Paul. About 30 percent of fans will come from out of town, making an impact on lodging and other parts of travel.

After Detroit hosted the 2024 draft, the economic impact was reportedly over
$200 million. A similar economic benefit is projected for here, with a cost that could be about $20 million.

The NFL Scouting Combine has been staged in Indianapolis every year since 1987. Bagley said “a little energy” has been spent locally on whether Minnesota might be a host someday.

“The NFL hasn’t yet decided (on future combine sites),” Bagley said. “I think they’re torn because I think a lot of the insiders and the GMs—they’re pretty comfortable in Indianapolis. So, they have not made the move to take it on the road yet. But we’re interested.

“The challenge for the combine is how do you make that a fan event? How do you get 30, 40, 50,000 people that come in and watch players do exercises? Other than the quarterbacks and the high-profile players.”

While the combine was originally a closed door event, the NFL has already begun engaging a bit with fans, allowing them to view players and see NFL memorabilia. The Vikings will monitor developments as they’re doing with the evolution of flag football.

The NFL is a major investor and promoter of flag football at various levels and ages across the country including Minnesota where the Vikings are an active partner. Flag football championships could one day be staged in NFL stadiums and that includes US Bank Stadium.

The stadium opened in 2016, and reviewers praised the facility that is owned by the state of Minnesota. “It’s still the No. 1 stadium in the NFL, according to a lot of the media that poll it from outside of the market,” Bagley said. “But also, so do a lot of the players and the coaches, and they talk to our players and coaches and say what an amazing facility you guys have here.”

Tax revenues from pull tabs gambling funded the state portion of building the public-privately financed facility. Bagley, who played a lead role in the realization of the stadium, said that money stream needs to be turned back on to help with maintenance and repair of the venue. Construction costs from bonds for the stadium were paid off 23 years early, saving millions in interest.

Former Twins Executive to Lead Winter Carnival

Patrick Klinger, the former Twins Executive Vice President of Marketing, is the new President & CEO of the Saint Paul Festival & Heritage Foundation. That organization runs the Saint Paul Winter Carnival and other community celebrations in the city.

Patrick Klinger, head of Saint Paul Winter Carnival The Winona native and Saint Paul resident is most recently the owner of Agile Marketing Partners consulting firm that advised companies, sports organizations, and nonprofits on sponsorship strategy, brand development, community engagement, and partnership marketing.

Prior to starting Agile, he spent 14 seasons with the Twins and led award-winning marketing and fan engagement initiatives earning regional and national recognition. An engaging and talented professional, he is a recipient of seven regional Emmy Awards and a Silver Effie Award.

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U AD: Golden Gophers in Good Spot in Rev Share, NIL

Posted on June 10, 2026June 10, 2026 by David Shama

When it comes to pay-for-play for University of Minnesota athletes in five sports, athletics director Mark Coyle likes where his program is.

Power Four conference schools like Minnesota had a capped revenue sharing amount of up to $20.5 million to pay athletes in the school year ending this month. The U chose to not only disburse that revenue share money (in undisclosed amounts) to football, men’s and women’s basketball, hockey and volleyball but also funded new scholarships in multiple sports including gymnastics, softball and soccer.

In the new fiscal year starting July 1, the revenue share money allowed for major Division I programs is $21.3 million. What’s new at the U this year is not only the 4 percent escalation, but also revenue share money will not be tapped for scholarships. Instead, Coyle said, fundraising is generating money for scholarships.

Athletics directors and coaches at power conference schools don’t divulge how much annually is allocated with revenue sharing and Name, Image and Likeness money to pay athletes. However, Coyle said the Gophers are in a good spot including with NIL which is separate from rev sharing and typically involves outside parties paying players for things like endorsements and personal appearances.

“I feel like we have put ourselves in a position where we can be very competitive with our peers in the Big Ten and be able to compete at the highest level,” he told Sports Headliners recently.

There are places like Michigan, Ohio State, and Texas Tech, where exorbitant amounts of money via revenue sharing and NIL reportedly pay football and men’s basketball players, but compared with all its peers in the Big Ten, Coyle is convinced the Gophers are not an “outlier” in being able to compete for player talent in those sports and others.

“…We are in a very competitive spot in terms of rev share dollars for our sports. Our coaches are not running here (to his office) sayin, ‘Oh, my gosh, I need more rev share money.’ They’re very competitive to our peers in the Big Ten. And that makes me feel good because we’re giving them a fighting chance.”

Relative to NIL, Coyle said “fans have been awesome” in helping fund that initiative that pays players for endorsements and personal appearances. Again, comparing with peers, Coyle said in NIL the Gophers are “very, very competitive too.”

Dinkytown Athletes, the official Gopher collective as an independent third party, has played a key role in generating NIL money and disbursing it to Gopher athletes. (DA is a Sports Headliners advertiser.)

The Wisconsin legislature this year approved funding to help UW Madison annually with costs for its athletic facilities. The Badgers will receive a reported $14.3 million. With this newfound money, the athletic department will have more flexibility in how it budgets dollars including for Olympic sports.

Coyle said the U hasn’t pursued similar legislation and that any initiatives would have to be in alignment with the overall plan of the University in working with the State of Minnesota Legislature.

Worth Noting

Niko Medved, Gophers hoops coach, photo by David Shama — Niko Medved

Niko Medved’s Golden Gophers basketball team began summer workouts this week with small group activities and on-court team play. The NCAA allows eight weeks of practice which will take the Gophers into July including a Fourth of July break.

Medved told Sports Headliners he anticipates an hour per day, four days a week of practice with his roster. He said the roster of players is healthy, in contrast to the past season and offseason last summer.

The Gophers were 15-18 overall last year and 8-12 in Big Ten play. Returning players are Jaylen Crocker-Johnson, Isaac Asuma, Bobby Durkin and Grayson Grove., who all started over 20 games. Kai Shinholster averaged 13 minutes a game as a reserve. Transfers are: Kyan Evans, Winters Grady, Nolan Groves, Malick Kordel and Malachi Palmer. Freshmen are: Nolen Anderson, Cedric Tomes, Chadrack Mpoyi and Blake Nixon.

Medved is pleased with his returning core and newcomers. “We’ve got more size, depth and length all the way across the board.”

With the announcement of a game November 6 against St. Thomas, Medved is looking for one more game to complete his yet to be announced nonconference schedule. He has been looking for a Power 4 opponent and has interest in a home-and-home series.

Nothing has been announced, but a guess is Minnesota is paying the Tommies a guarantee of between $80,000 and $95,000 for their game at Williams Arena.

Lynx guard Olivia Miles is the WNBA Western Conference Player of the Week for games June 1–7. The only other Lynx players to win the award are Seimone Augustus – June 5, 2006, and Napheesa Collier – August 26, 2019.

Collier is the only remaining player on the roster from 2019. She remains sidelined after ankle surgery earlier this year but upon return will form a high scoring duo with Miles who had a game-high 24 points last night in a 100-76 win by the 10-2 Lynx over the Wings from Dallas, 7-4. It was Miles’ sixth-straight game with 15+ points and 5+ assists, tying Caitlin Clark for the second-longest streak by a rookie in WNBA history.

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Gopher Men’s Hoops Not Starting Series with Tommies

Posted on June 8, 2026June 8, 2026 by David Shama

In surprising news this morning, the University of Minnesota announced the Golden Gophers will play the University of St. Thomas in basketball games this year. The men’s teams will meet at Williams Arena on November 6 while the women’s teams are scheduled at the “Barn” on December 1.

There have been past conversations about the state’s two Division I men’s programs meeting on the court. St. Thomas coach John Tauer and Minnesota coach Niko Medved spoke to Sports Headliners about a potential game last year.

“We’ve said for four years, and we continue to say, we’d love to play the Gophers either in a …game at their place or start a home and home series,” Tauer told Sports Headliners in 2025. ” We’d love to play them in a regular season game and our (future) schedule is wide open.”

Last year Medved didn’t dismiss the idea of a game but noted there are many factors that go into determining the nonconference schedule. These can include timing on the calendar, prior commitments with other teams, logistics, finances and resume building for an NCAA Tournament invite.

Medved was interested a year ago in meeting the Tommies in an exhibition game opening up the new St. Thomas arena. St. Thomas didn’t want the first ever game in the multi-use Lee and Penny Anderson Arena to be an exhibition and had a commitment to play Army in its opener. The UST women’s team also played the Cadets in a historic doubleheader.

Now things have changed. Medved told Sports Headliners this morning he reached out to St. Thomas about scheduling the November 6 game that falls on a Friday night. He liked the date in how it lines up with his nonconference schedule, and he likes the idea of the two local Division I programs playing a game. He knew of fan interest because he was asked about a potential game almost immediately after he became Minnesota’s head coach in March of 2025.

“We’re excited to have St. Thomas on campus for a game this year,” Medved said in a statement. “Having two Division I programs right here in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area is great for the sport, and I know it’s something fans are really looking forward to seeing. Our schedules were able to align this year, so it seemed like a perfect time to create a fun environment here at the ‘Barn.’ ”

Not surprisingly as a Power Four conference school, the Gophers will be the home team for both games and keep most of the revenue for the matchups that could produce the largest attendances for Minnesota’s nonconference men’s and women’s games in 2026-2027.

The Gophers play in the prestigious Big Ten while the Tommies are in the mid-major Summit League. The Gophers will be favored in both games and upsets in either matchup will be a grand opportunity for the Tommies to flaunt their reputation. “We’re going to have to play at our best,” Medved told Sports Headliners.

Since entering Division I competition in 2021-2022, the Tommies have become a force in the Summit League. They nearly earned their way into an NCAA Tournament invite earlier this year. In coaching circles among power conference schools, it’s believed that few programs want to schedule the upstart Tommies led by Tauer, a superb coach.

The NCAA selection committee splits Division I teams into four quadrants to evaluate their schedules and value in determining an invitation to the NCAA Tournament. In that context Medved’s game against the Tommies poses risk.

“It doesn’t do a ton for us as far as putting together your resume for the NCAA Tournament,” he told Sports Headliners. “It’s going to be a Quad 3 game (mid-tier foe). The hardest games to play sometimes are these Quad 3 opponents that are good enough to beat you. And you lose to one and that can really damage your resume, meaning it doesn’t do much for you. That’s the tricky part. …”

Fans should revel in this year’s game for its uniqueness. “I am not going to play them every year,” he told Sports Headliners. “That doesn’t make sense for us to do that.”

So, there will be no series involving the two schools. Just the possibility of a future matchup down the road. “I am not saying we’ll never play them again,” Medved said.

In November the Gophers and Tommies will play for the first time in men’s basketball since 1934. The Gophers are 6-1 in the all-time series.

The December game will be the first for the women’s basketball Gophers and Tommies. “…There is tremendous support for women’s basketball across the state, and we look forward to a terrific atmosphere on game day,” coach Dawn Plitzuweit said in a statement.

In Plitzuweit’s third season as Gophers coach, her 2025-26 team made the NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 for the first time in two decades. The Gophers could be a top 25 team next season. They return All-Big Ten selections Mara Braun, Tori McKinney and Grace Grocholski. Plus, they have added valued transfers and incoming freshmen.

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