Tommies-Johnnies to face off at Target Field next year

The home of the Minnesota Twins will host its very first football game in September 2017.

Target Field officials announced next year's Tommies vs. Johnnies game — a face off between St. Thomas and St. John's Universities, one of the biggest Minnesota college football rivalries — will be played at the stadium on Sept. 23.

"Target Field is a spectacular venue," said University of St. Thomas Athletic Director Steve Fritz. "The opportunity to hold our 2017 game against St. John's there will add another fun chapter to what's one of the country's best college football rivalries."

Tickets for the 1 p.m. St. Thomas home game will go on sale to the general public beginning Dec. 13 and for St. John's University, University of St. Thomas and Minnesota Twin stakeholders on Dec. 6.

Students wanting to sit in the 2,000-seat student section for each University can buy $10 tickets that go on sale next summer. General seating tickets cost $15-35.

In 2015, the Tommies vs. Johnnies game broke the Division III college football game attendance record with 17,327 spectators. Next year, with Target Field's 39,000 seating capacity, a new record could be set, according to a St. Thomas news release.