Thunder Home Opener at NSC Will Unveil New Beer Garden Called Thunder Lounge
New Thunder Lounge as seen from west stands last Friday, April 24
The Happy Gnome, owned by Nick Miller, partnered with the Thunder last year to bring beer to the newly remodeled NSC stadium. Numerous import and domestic brews were sold. Patrick Leverty who is the lead carpenter on the project and managed the beer sales for the Happy Gnome at the Thunder games, said last season was a test. “Last year was kind of a trial run,” Said Leverty. “This year with the deck, we’ll have a full service bar.” Leverty explained the Thunder Lounge will also be sponsored by Budweiser, “Of course we will have Bud products, but we’ll also have 4 or 5 craft beers just like last year as well as a cider like Strongbow.”
Leverty envisions tables and chairs on the top section of the deck with a wait staff. They plan on serving food, such as higher end burgers like the food served at the Happy Gnome.
Leverty, whose crew is working morning until night to finish the deck in time for the opener, said he was optimistic the deck will be ready to go. The sides and terraces will have a smooth siding applied that will be painted. “The terraces will get painted the two-tone gray in the Thunder logo color with the sides and ends of the deck along with the bar being painted in the Thunder dark blue,” explained Leverty.
Leverty, a former soccer player himself and a Thunder supporter as well, has a bit of extra incentive to see the project to its completion. Leverty said he won’t be managing the beer sales this year, but will be hanging out at the games anyway. He said, “When I come to the games, I’m never going to leave the beer garden!”
Thunder Lounge looking east towards the Schwan's Center
Leverty falls into a target market that many MLS teams are starting to look to as the future of the sport. Initially many professional soccer teams looked to the youth soccer market to support the team. But more and more, teams in the US are looking to draw the same fans that watch Fox Soccer Channel, Sentanta Sports and other soccer channels that feature futbol. That target market is the 21-45 year old, who has played the game, watches plenty of soccer and is pretty futbol savvy. The Thunder will be on the cutting edge in the USL with this new beer garden.
The team started making changes last year by moving back to the NSC Stadium after remodeling the facility by bringing the field in closer to the stands and therefore the audience. Another conscious decision by the club was to stop playing music during the game and to encourage fans to join the supporters’ group called the Dark Clouds to create the noise and atmosphere heard throughout the stadium on game days. Not all the USL teams have embraced this philosophy as the Thunder have.
Djorn Buchholz, General Manager of the Thunder, says the team will continue to look to the family as the core of the Thunder fan base. “The Thunder has and always will cater to the family atmosphere as it truly is the core of our fan base,” stated Buchholz. “However, as we take a step back and think about how we need to grow as an organization, we need to capture the soccer passion that is within so many young adults and show them that we have one of the top soccer teams in the country. Through the creation of the Thunder Lounge, we are now offering a truly unique viewing experience and atmosphere unlike any other sports experience in the Twin Cities. This will be a destination location and will continue to build our fan base.”
In a meeting with Thunder supporters last fall, Bucholz had outlined a plan that saw the families more in the west and southwest sections of the stands, with the supporters group, corporate tent and Thunder Lounge in the Northwest and Northern sections of the stadium. General food items and bathrooms will be more easily accessible to the family areas of the stadium. Also, the new $5.00 general admission area will be good for the stands next to the beer garden behind the North goal and named by the Dark Cloud supporters, Stand du Nord.
Leverty also explained the Happy Gnome and the Thunder plan on having post-game parties on the deck at the new Thunder Lounge, weather permitting.
Beer garden still under construction should be ready for Thunder opener Saturday evening May 2, 7:05 start.
For more photos click “More”
Full service bar
Left end of beer garden is just feet away from north goal.
Thunder Lounge looking towards north goal and Stand du Nord
Looking east from 1st terrace
Comments are closed.
Wow. Just wow. This is going to be incredibly cool.
Awesome. I just hope they have enough servers!
What’s up with the grass at NSC? Is that going to be ready to play on this Saturday (assuming these pictures were taken recently)?
That looks amazingly cool! I hope to be back in town sometime this summer to grab a drink there! Reminds me of what TFC has up at BMO Field, only better cause its in MN.
d3alum, see above article and all will be explained. I was actually out at NSC tonight and the grass is already looking better. It looked as if the irrigation pipe had been hooked up as the trench was already covered.
Should be great Zach. Let me know when your back in town and we can meet up at the beer garden.
You had me until “Happy Gnome”…
What’s wrong with the Happy Gnome?
Sorry if I missed this in the article, but will the beer garden be open to people of all sections, or do you have to buy a special ticket to watch the game from there?
I think it might have been the name? It is goofy, but for those of you not familiar with it, check out the link to the web site. The gnome is just sort of a goofy theme. The bar is pretty cool, serving something like 45 tap beers and more imports available in bottle. Good food as well.
The beer garden will be accessible to all, no matter what the price of the ticket.
“Pretty Cool”?
Try, “Bad Ass Amazing.”
The Happy Gnome is 100% Dale Weiler Fan Club approved.
Everyone make sure and put on your Thunderwear Sat. night. Should be a good one against future MLS team!
We should be lucky to have a beer garden in the USL sponsored by Happy Gnome. Think of the alternative, a much larger, crowded stadium with a bar/grill sponsored by Budweiser. Happy Gnome is one of the best beer bars in the Twin Cities and the deck will be filled with pure fans.
It is a shame it’s at the end of the field though. It would be great if they could sacrifice some of the East side seating where no one sits for Thunder games. I suppose that would be odd for non-professional games played in this stadium however.
Oops, I read on the website and the lounge is actually sponsored by Bud Light. But it’s still has ties to Happy Gnome. I for one will be supporting local and craft brews.
Hopefully, they wont serve Bud Light. Anyway this is a great idea.
I picked a terrible year to move to Boston.
The beer garden is a great idea but needs finishing touches. Beer signs,advertising, something,it is too plain.
As you read from the article, they hardly got the thing finished for the game on Saturday and were working their asses off to get done what you saw. On top of that, they’ve spent a ton of money and are still waiting for endorsements from Bud Light and whatever they are giving them to come through and some money from sales in the garden itself. I have no doubt it will eventually look better. Talking to Nick Miller on Saturday evening, owner of the Happy Gnome, it may take a while to get the thing looking complete. Be patient and take a look around at the Happy Gnome or other bars Nick owns. The guy is a construction contractor and doesn’t do things half-assed, but it may take some time. I’m just very thankful we have it.
Happy gnome is a great bar, I think your right the garden just needs a little bit of time. I think a good idea would be to display old Thunder and football memorabilia, jerseys etc. to add a sense of history to the club.