Minnesota Wild owner Craig Leipold is betting on the future of downtown St. Paul

Craig Leipold may be one of downtown St. Paul’s biggest boosters.

He’s the owner of the Minnesota Wild, and his company manages the venues that bring 2 million people downtown every year for games, concerts and other events: the Grand Casino Arena, the Saint Paul RiverCentre and Roy Wilkins Auditorium.

This year, he expanded his sports franchises to include a new women’s volleyball team he hopes will attract even more fans to downtown. And he just became majority owner of the historic St. Paul Hotel, the century-old hotel overlooking Rice Park where he stays on the top floor when he isn’t home in Racine, Wis.

Coming up at 9 a.m. on Wednesday, MPR News host Angela Davis talks with Leipold about his career, the business of sports, being a dad of five sons and what’s ahead for downtown St. Paul.

And, we want to hear from you, too.

What questions do you have for Craig Leipold about his career, running sports businesses or reviving downtown St. Paul?

Call us during the 9 a.m. hour at 651-227-6000 or 800-242-2828.

Guest:

• Craig Leipold is an entrepreneur and sports business owner. He is majority owner of Minnesota Sports & Entertainment, which owns the Minnesota Wild hockey team and manages the Grand Casino Arena and RiverCentre event center in downtown St. Paul. He is also the owner of a new Minnesota professional women’s volleyball team and minority owner of the Minnesota Twins baseball team. This spring, he also became majority owner of the St. Paul Hotel. He previously owned the Nashville Predators professional hockey team based in Nashville, Tenn.

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