Entering his 17th season of ownership in 2021, Minnesota Vikings Owner/President Mark Wilf has led a transformation of the entire organization and has dedicated his focus to four primary areas: building a team that consistently competes for championships, providing the best in class fan experience, positively impacting the Minneapolis-St. Paul community and growing the game of football.
Mark, along with his brother Zygi, oversees the management and strategic planning of every department within the Vikings. He led two of the most significant initiatives in the team's history with the completion of U.S. Bank Stadium and the successful bid to bring Super Bowl LII to Minnesota, creating a lasting impact on the community and the state. The multi-use U.S. Bank Stadium opened in July 2016 and is considered to be in the upper echelon of stadiums throughout the world, having won several awards for its construction and design, operations, and sustainability initiatives. The stadium also provides one of the best fan experiences in all of sports and entertainment. As the largest construction project in state history, U.S. Bank Stadium created thousands of jobs with tremendous economic impact on the region and helped spur more than $1 billion in surrounding development in the east side of downtown Minneapolis. The facility is capable of hosting hundreds of community, national, and international events each year and has already been the home of Super Bowl LII, the 2019 NCAA Final Four and multiple ESPN X Games.
Wilf also led the development of the Vikings new headquarters, Twin Cities Orthopedics Performance Center, which opened in March 2018 in Eagan, Minnesota. As the day-to-day and training camp home of the team, TCO Performance Center serves as the centerpiece of Viking Lakes, a 200-acre, mixed-use development that will ultimately encompass three million square feet of corporate office, medical, retail, entertainment and multi-family housing. Over the past two years, the growing campus has added three esports teams, the national headquarters of USA Curling, the northern office of the United States Tennis Association and the Omni Viking Lakes Hotel to go alongside the Vikings Museum and team store and Twin Cities Orthopedics' sports medicine center and medical office building.
Philanthropy has been ingrained in the Wilf family for generations. In 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, the Wilf Family Foundations and the Vikings gave over $5 million in donations and commitments to support health care workers, the elderly, food banks, social service organizations and Jewish causes in Minnesota, New York, New Jersey and Israel. Wilf embraces his role as a steward of the franchise and understands the Vikings have been a valuable part of the fabric of life in the region since 1961. Since taking ownership of the team, Mark, Zygi, and the Wilf Family Foundations have provided significant and impactful grants and donations to numerous charitable causes throughout Minnesota and encourage every player on the roster to take part in community service events. In June 2020, the Wilf Family and the Vikings announced a $5 million donation to social justice causes throughout the United States, , and their continued work with players is focused on three areas: 1) reducing socioeconomic disparities; 2) implementing educational curriculum on racism and Black history; and 3) advocating for law enforcement and criminal justice reform.
The Wilfs have also made children's health a priority, most notably donating $5 million to the University of Minnesota Masonic Children's Hospital and creating the Wilf Family Center. The Center is designed to be the intellectual hub of children's health care in the Midwest. In 2017, under the Wilfs' leadership, the Vikings launched the Minnesota Vikings Foundation with the mission of advancing the well-being of youth through engaging health and education initiatives. In 2019, the Foundation unveiled Vikings Table, a food truck that provides free meals to underserved children in Minneapolis-St. Paul and surrounding communities. In its first six months of operation, Vikings Table served more than 4,500 meals and since the COVID-19 pandemic, has provided over 13,000 meals to families in need. In addition, the Wilf Family Foundations made a $1 million donation to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2019 to help create a Founders Exhibit which will shine a light on the many contributions of founders and owners of NFL franchises.
Wilf serves as Chair of the Board of Trustees for National Campaign Chairman for the Jewish Federations of North America (JFNA). A longtime supporter of the Jewish community, Wilf and his family are among the largest benefactors of Yad Vashem, the Holocaust memorial museum in Israel.
Wilf is a principal of Garden Homes, his family's real estate firm, a nationwide leader in retail, commercial and private residential development. In 2018, Wilf and his family launched WISE (Wilf Innovative Sports & Entertainment) Ventures, an investment fund based in Manhattan. WISE focuses on early and growth stage investment opportunities in sports, entertainment and real estate. In 2021, Wilf became the lead investor and governor for Orlando City SC and the Orlando Pride.
Wilf earned his bachelor's degree from Princeton University, where he served as the radio voice of Princeton Tigers football and basketball. He later graduated from the New York University School of Law before becoming a principal in the family business. Wilf currently serves on several boards, including Vanderbilt University, the NYU School of Law, the Princeton Varsity Club and he serves as a Trustee of Yeshiva University. Wilf is chair of the NFL Stadium Committee and serves on the Business Ventures Committee and Fan Engagement and Major Event Committee.
Wilf and his wife Jane, who is also heavily involved in philanthropic activities, have four children.
