Currently in his 23rd season with the Vikings in 2021, Steve Poppen serves as the team's Executive Vice President & Chief Business Administration Officer after serving as the club's EVP and Chief Financial Officer. In his role, Poppen continues to work with the accounting and finance, security, facilities and IT departments along with financing and operations of U.S. Bank Stadium and Twin Cities Orthopedics Performance Center. Poppen also serves as an EVP and CFO of MV Ventures, LLC, the Wilf Family's Minnesota real estate development and operations entity. MV Ventures is responsible for development and operations of the Viking Lakes campus in Eagan. Poppen plays a key role in the club's plans to welcome fans back to the stadium in 2021 after the unprecedented difficulties presented in 2020 by the Covid-19 pandemic.
As a project leader on the TCO Performance Center facility, Poppen was involved daily with financing, design, construction and cooperation with city, county and regional governing bodies that kept the project on track.
For several years Poppen played a lead role in the Vikings attempts to pass new stadium legislation, an exhaustive effort that culminated with Governor Mark Dayton signing the stadium bill into law on May 14, 2012. After passage of the stadium legislation, Poppen continued to serve on the Vikings stadium team, working with the design and construction process and was part of the executive group that negotiated the team's use agreement and development agreement, as well as other documents governing the construction and day to day operations of the new publicly-owned facility. Poppen also oversaw the Vikings efforts to finance the over $600 million team/private commitment to the project. In 2013, he helped secure $425 million in loans from the NFL and a bank syndicate led by U.S. Bank as part of the team contribution.
The passage of the stadium bill not only secured the team in Minnesota but also gave Vikings fans a premier venue to watch their team beginning in the 2016 NFL season. Along with Vikings football, the multi-purpose facility hosted Super Bowl LII in February 2018, the NCAA Final Four basketball tournament in April 2019, and has been designed to host other national and international events, including concerts, high school and amateur sports and other community events.
U.S. Bank Stadium is an elite venue and unrivaled experience in the NFL. The design features for which the Vikings fought include the most fan-friendly and most technologically-advanced stadium in the League. It provides an indoor-outdoor experience that is ideal for the Greater Minneapolis/St. Paul market. The progressive architectural design is a signature element on the Minneapolis skyline.
A native of Watertown, SD, Poppen spent eight years as a Certified Public Accountant in the business assurance group of PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP in Kansas City before joining the Vikings. In 2006, Poppen participated in the NFL-Stanford Program for Managers at the Stanford Graduate School of Business, a program developed by the NFL to promote growth of leaders within the League.
Poppen received his bachelor's degree in accounting from Evangel University in Springfield, MO, in 1991. Poppen played football at Evangel, an NAIA member of the Heart of America Athletic Conference. Poppen is an active member of his community and either serves or has served on several boards and committees that have missions that are in alignment with his values and interests. Poppen's past board service includes Minnesota Adult and Teen Challenge, a faith-based drug and alcohol rehabilitation program for Minnesota adults and teens, Minneapolis Downtown Council and Downtown Improvement District, and the Minnesota State Fair Foundation. Poppen's current board service includes Twin Cities Habitat for Humanity where he serves on its Lending Committee, Finance Committee and Development Committee. Poppen also currently serves as an Independent Trustee of the M3SIXTY Trust, and 360 Funds Trust, two mutual fund investment trusts based in Kansas City, Missouri.
Poppen and his wife, Christy, who holds a bachelor's degree in elementary education from Evangel, have four children – Natalie, Andrew, Nathan and Avery. The Poppen family resides in Eden Prairie.
