Why is Allianz Field being built so small?

Yesterday Minnesota United announced they had sold out the first areas of Allianz Field, this comes just a few days after they drew a (lower bowl) sellout crowd of 23,128 at TCF Bank Stadium. These thing have made me question why is Allianz Field being built so small!?

Selling out those first areas, even though there are only roughly 600 seats, especially considering these are premium seats, is definitely a big achievement. For context in 2011 when the club, then league owned and known as NSC Minnesota, won the NASL Championship but only drew a paltry 1,905 per match and was knocking on deaths door. The Loons have gone from that to being in MLS and have drawn over 20K in each of their last 7 home matches (for an average of 21,866/match).

Even with that attendance and a growing season ticket base (approximately 13,000 at this time) Allianz Field is being built with only 19,400 seats.

While the stadium is going to be expandable considering Minnesota United’s growing popularity and season ticket base, it really should be built with more seating. While yes less seats will allow for the Loons to consistently advertise sellouts why not put 22,000 or so seats in the building to start with to allow more fans to see this club. More fans seeing this club will allow the brand to continue to grow not only in Minnesota but around the entire Upper Midwest as well.

What do you think about the seating capacity at Allianz Field? Do you think it’s just right or should be larger, sound off in the comments and let us know!