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New Stadium General Manager Is Former WWE Executive Talty

By Adam Carlson

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I have to admit, I didn’t know that stadiums had general managers.  Perhaps that is a bit of naivety on my part considering how important the new multi-purpose stadium in Minnesota will be, but on Tuesday it was announced that former World Wrestling Entertainment executive Patrick Talty would be the building’s general manager.

With the WWE, Talty was the Senior Vice President of Live Events.  He oversaw global tours and marketing, including booking over 420 live events for the promotion.  It is the experience in marketing, scheduling and booking that makes Patrick Talty a great candidate for this unique job.

Talty joins the SMG, a group that works on behalf of the Minnesota Sports Facilities Authority to operate and manage the facility.  Here’s what MSFA chairperson Michele Kelm-Helgen had to say about the strength of the SMG according to the Minnesota Vikings official website:

"“We hired SMG because of their deep stadium operations and marketing experience,” said Michele Kelm-Helgen. “We are pleased they are bringing Patrick to run our new stadium. In addition to his operational expertise, Patrick’s promoter experience should bring a wide variety of new events to Minnesota; his international work could offer some new opportunities for the stadium as well.”"

But it isn’t just Patrick Talty’s experience in booking, marketing, and promotion that got him the job.  It was also his history of running arenas and stadiums in the past.  He was the general manager of Abu Dhabi’s Zayed Sports City from 2009 to 2012 and previously worked as an assistant general manager at Glendale’s University of Phoenix Stadium in Arizona.

Patrick Talty looks to be a good hire that brings a lot of experience and knowledge to the new Minnesota Multi-Purpose Stadium.  Hopefully he can help bring more high profile events to Minnesota as the stadium’s general manager.

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