The stadium had a fiberglass fabric roof that was self-supported by air pressure and was the third major sports facility to have this feature (the first two being the Pontiac Silverdome and the Carrier Dome).

[12][13][14] The stadium was the only facility to have hosted a Super Bowl (1992), World Series (1987, 1991), MLB All-Star Game (1985), and NCAA Division I Basketball Final Four (1992, 2001).

Four of the five incidents occurred within the stadium's first five years of operation:[25] On November 19, 1981, a rapid accumulation of over a foot of snow caused the roof to collapse, requiring it to be re-inflated.

In the spring following that same winter, on April 14, 1983, the Metrodome roof deflated because of a tear caused by late-season heavy snow,[26] and the scheduled Twins game with the California Angels was postponed.

The night before the incident a Fox Sports crew, who were setting up for the football game between the New York Giants and Vikings, noticed water was leaking through the roof.

The game between the Vikings and Giants, scheduled to take place on December 12 during the afternoon, was postponed to the next day and relocated to Ford Field in Detroit.

[31] This forced another game between the Vikings and Chicago Bears (originally scheduled at the Metrodome on December 20) to be relocated to TCF Bank Stadium.

[45] After five days of investigation from structural and demolition experts, it was decided that the remaining portion of the concrete ring beam would be destroyed using controlled explosive charges—virtually the same method that was used to bring down the Metrodome's steel support cables for the roof.

[47] On March 15, 2014, the final upper deck bleachers and concrete bleacher-support girders (on the northwest side of the Metrodome) were brought down, taking away any standing remnants of the exterior stadium walls.

On April 11, 2014, the final portion of the inner-stadium concrete walls were reduced to rubble, marking the official end of the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome.

Demolition of the Metrodome was formally declared complete six days later—a month ahead of schedule—as the final truckload of rubble was loaded up and removed from the new stadium construction site.

The Metrodome was recognized as one of the loudest venues in which to view a game, due in part to the fact that sound was recycled throughout the stadium because of the fabric domed roof.

[50][51] The blue colored seat back and bottom where Kirby Puckett's 1991 World Series Game 6 walk-off home run landed in Section 101, Row 5, Seat 27 (renumbered 34 after the home run in honor of Kirby's uniform number), is now in the Twins archives, along with the gold-colored back and bottom that replaced it for several years.

[52] The original World Series armrests and hardware, as well as the replacement blue seat back and bottom, are now part of a private Kirby Puckett collection in Minnesota.

Teams began charging higher prices for tickets and demanding more amenities, such as bigger clubhouses and locker rooms, more luxury suites, and more concession revenue.

A sophisticated environmental control center in the lower part of the stadium was staffed to monitor the weather and make adjustments in air distribution to maintain the roof.

That has only happened three times in its history – Dave Kingman for the Oakland Athletics on May 4, 1984,[59] the University of Minnesota Gophers player George Behr and Corey Koskie in 2004.

[61] The surface, also known as SporTurf, was very bouncy—so bouncy, in fact, that Billy Martin once protested a game after seeing a base hit that would normally be a pop single turn into a ground-rule double.

On those occasions, the Twins game would start at about 11 am local time (TV announcer Dick Bremer sometimes joked that the broadcast was competing with SpongeBob SquarePants).

The University of Minnesota was the only school in the Big Ten that shared a football facility with professional sports teams for an extended period of years.

The only time this happened was on October 2, 2004, when a game between the Twins and Indians reached the end of the 11th inning after 2:30 pm in a tie and resumed the next day.

[81] The loud noise, white roof, quick turf, and the right-field wall (or "Baggie") provided a substantial home-field advantage for the Twins.

With the departure of the Twins, this leaves the Tampa Bay Rays as the last remaining major league team to play their games in a non-retractable domed stadium.

However, the NCAA made a significant amount of money selling the high number of seats for regional and championship games for the men's basketball tournament.

Big 12 Conference member Kansas has played two series (2007 and 2010) at the Metrodome because of inclement weather against South Dakota State University and Eastern Michigan, respectively.

The concert capacity of the Metrodome was around 60,000 people, depending on seating and stage configurations, which made it a profitable location for stadium tours during the late 80s and 90s.

With the passage of time, the Metrodome was thought to be an increasingly poor fit for its three major tenants, all of whom claimed the stadium was nearing the end of its useful life.

[103] During a 2010 Vikings game, Fox Sports' Alex Marvez wrote that the Metrodome's passageways were so cramped that it would be difficult for fans to evacuate in the event of an emergency.

As a result, the county noted it would have to cut back on some improvements to the surrounding streetscapes, though it also revealed that the Pohlad family had committed another $15 million for infrastructure.

The university believed an on-campus stadium would motivate its student base for increased ticket sales, and also would benefit from athletic revenues, not only for the football program, but the non-revenue sports as well.