Allianz Field to host 89th annual ‘Tommie-Johnnie’ rivalry football game
The University of St. Thomas and St. John’s University football teams will play Saturday in what could be the second-to-last game in the decades-old rivalry.
The annual tradition is set to end next year after St. Thomas was forced to change athletic conferences.
The 89th annual Tommie-Johnnie football game will be played before a sellout crowd at St. Paul’s 19,400-seat Allianz Field, which usually is home to the Minnesota United FC professional soccer team. Minnesota United is set to host the Los Angeles Galaxy on Sunday in a single-elimination playoff game.
But before that happens, thousands of students and alumni from St. Thomas and St. John’s will attend the annual football game between the schools. Kickoff is scheduled for 1:10 p.m. Saturday. The 2017 game was played at Target Field and broke the Division III attendance record with more than 37,000 people in the stands.
Create a More Connected Minnesota
MPR News is your trusted resource for the news you need. With your support, MPR News brings accessible, courageous journalism and authentic conversation to everyone - free of paywalls and barriers. Your gift makes a difference.
The game comes a few months after St. Thomas was booted from the Division III Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference after years of dominance in football and other sports. Other schools in the league, of which St. Thomas is one of the seven founding members, felt its size presented an unfair competitive advantage.
Most St. Thomas athletic programs are poised to move up to Division I in 2021 after receiving an invitation from the Summit League earlier this month; that move remains subject to NCAA approval. But because the Summit League does not include football and hockey, the futures of those programs remain unclear.
The matchup will be the first American football game to be played in Allianz Field, which opened earlier this year. Those who weren’t able to get tickets will be able to watch the game on a big screen at a viewing party outside the stadium.
The 90th — and perhaps final — game between the two schools is scheduled to be played Nov. 7, 2020. Going into Saturday’s game, St. John’s holds the edge in the rivalry with a 52-35-1 record.