‘Lifecycle of venues are shrinking’

Article posted by Coliseum, December 9^th, 2025

Image: Coliseum GSVA / Michael Rennschmied

John Drum is presently the Regional Vice-President for Legends Global. He was earlier the General Manager of the U.S. Bank Stadium.

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Charles Adkinson has been a senior member of Wrightson, Johnson, Haddon & Williams (WJHW) since 2015 and brings his extensive background to focus on technology leadership for critical large-scale projects.

In an exclusive for ‘Coliseum’, John Drum, Regional Vice-President, Legends Global, US, tells Charles Adkinson, SVP of Sport and Entertainment, Wrightson, Johnson, Haddon & Williams (WJHW), US, that in an age when sleek venues are popping up all over and the lifecycle of venues shrinking the U.S. Bank Stadium is still known for their fan program and the warmth that their staff exudes. Moreover, the Vikings connect very well with their fan base.

U.S. Bank Stadium

The 73,000-capacity U.S. Bank Stadium is an indoor multipurpose stadium located in Minneapolis, Minnesota, U.S. It is the home venue of the Minnesota Vikings of the National Football League (NFL).

Drum Role

John Drum tells Charles Adkinson that his role as the GM entails “handling a lot of relationships and whether that’s with the authority that owns the building, with the Vikings who are the major tenants inside the building or all those community connections and the GM is obviously focused with that kind of long-term goal of where do we want to get this building to as opposed to kind of the near-term relationship and we have to maintain those relationships and the daily job of operating the building and make sure it is safe and well-maintained and secure.”

Venue Lifecycle

Adkinson wondered in an age where the lifecycle of a venue has gone shorter as amenities change what is done to lift the U.S. Bank Stadium up and Drum stated, “The U.S. Bank Stadium the Vikings have committed there to be for 30 years. There are two 10 year extensions under that. The potential lifespan of 50 years – the first question you ask – are you maintaining for 30 years or are you maintaining for 50 years and we are looking at it in 50 years but that is a long time away. We are trying to forecast 41 years and you have to take it in measured goals. One of the things that the authority did is commissioned a site assessment of where we need to get to in maintaining this building and what are the things that lie ahead. Again, the pressure is on with new buildings coming on line and obviously the NFL owners travel from City to City to see the newer venues that are popping up how do we stay current within our marketplace but also within the NFL, what are the things that we can do inside this building – technology-based, additions to it, a very tight footprint in downtown Minneapolis so we don’t have a large campus compared to the other venues but how do we maintain the ability not only for the Vikings but we continue to attract events through our local bid group.”

Wrap-up

‘NFL Voice of the Fan’

On being asked what is special about the U.S. Bank Stadium, John Drum replied, “Going back to the ‘NFL Voice of the Fan’ we get back on that is amazing and it allows us to identify areas where we can improve and what is important to the fans when they come to the stadium and in this current wave of venue development and technology and taking the human elements out of certain venues whether it’s a cashless experience, grab ‘n’ go market, the ability to walk in with facial recognition, the No 1 thing that the fans said is how warm our staff is when they come inside the building and the venue architecture is incredible with the ETFE roof allowing a lot of natural sunlight in. The staff training and the community feeling that it gives has been a kind of secret sauce for us.”

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