Vikings closer to new stadium

[VolsSportsFan]

Report -- Minnesota Vikings have preliminary agreement on stadium - ESPN

Looks like we're closer to marking the Vikings off the "Moving to Los Angeles" list.

[Crew]

....next up are the Jags and the Rams.

[VolsSportsFan]

I didn't know the Rams were a serious threat to go back to LA. I knew they were having ownership issues in St. Louis.

Other than them, if I remember correctly the Jags, Raiders, and Chargers are the only other teams left, though the Raiders may not be anymore as I read they may share the new 49ers stadium in Santa Clara. But it sounds like Goodall would rather put 2 expansion teams in LA rather than move any.

If I had to bet on any team moving, it would be the Jags. I wouldn't really care that much as Jacksonville has always seemed like the odd team out, though it would mess up the AFC alignment.

[TrueOrange]

Originally Posted by VolsSportsFan

Report -- Minnesota Vikings have preliminary agreement on stadium - ESPN

Looks like we're closer to marking the Vikings off the "Moving to Los Angeles" list.

they were never actually considering it, just using the possibility of such for negotiations

[milohimself]

Minnesota tax payers getting screwed over there IMO

[VolsSportsFan]

Originally Posted by milohimself

Minnesota tax payers getting screwed over there IMO

Aren't taxpayers almost always screwed over in new stadium deals? I've never understood why taxpayers are asked to foot the bill for billionaires' playgrounds.

[VolsSportsFan]

Originally Posted by TrueOrange

they were never actually considering it, just using the possibility of such for negotiations

I figured as much; I know anything is possible but the Vikings are one of those teams I just can't see leaving where they are.

[milohimself]

Originally Posted by VolsSportsFan

Aren't taxpayers almost always screwed over in new stadium deals? I've never understood why taxpayers are asked to foot the bill for billionaires' playgrounds.

Usually. As I understand it, Minnesota passed a referendum like 15 years back saying that any projects like stadiums getting more than $10million in public funds needed to be approved politically, and here they're basically diverting $300million in funding for other projects (mainly from an expo center IIRC) to the stadium.

[VolsSportsFan]

Well...maybe not...

Minnesota Vikings stadium proposal rejected by House committee - ESPN

[milohimself]

Vikings to LA, calling it now

[TrueOrange]

Originally Posted by milohimself

Vikings to LA, calling it now

Doubt it, personally


Unless they go heavy on a "2 in LA" route"

[n_huffhines]

Originally Posted by milohimself

Minnesota tax payers getting screwed over there IMO

mos def

[VolsSportsFan]

I just don't see the NFL letting the Vikings leave Minnesota, unless they do the Browns thing where they have to leave the name behind and they award Minnesota a future expansion team "TBA".

[TrueOrange]

Originally Posted by VolsSportsFan

I just don't see the NFL letting the Vikings leave Minnesota, unless they do the Browns thing where they have to leave the name behind and they award Minnesota a future expansion team "TBA".

that possibly just causes another problem though - the NFL essentially has already said if they go the expansion route, they're going to need to add 2 teams instead of just one


I'm also not sure the city of Minnesota would get any special treatment here...the whole thing that happened with the Browns was really more because of how much of an overall mess it turned into for everyone involved (thanks in part mostly to Art Modell...but court cases, fan hostile reactions, etc, all came about). The "leave the name behind thing" was something Modell did as a bargaining chip with the NFL as mediators between him/the browns and the city when things got so...messy.






All that aside, I don't think this is a case of the Vikings really wanting to move, so much as their using the threat of it as a heavy bargaining chip. (To me, the fact that plans are being discussed and proposals being presented rather than something come up as a last minute save is a sign).

I'm not sure the NFL is going to have to try to stop them from leaving, because it's quite likely they're not going anywhere unless Minneapolis stops listening entirely. (& even then, I don't know that the NFL would actually force a stop).

[TrueOrange]

Blog article on the matter

Vikings stadium: Cue the threats, right? - NFL Nation Blog - ESPN

It's late.

We're all tired.

Most of us are cranky.

So let's get to the bottom line.

It's time.

It's time for the Minnesota Vikings to recognize that their admirable but toothless stadium strategy has failed.

It's time to end the exclusivity they have given the state of Minnesota on this issue.

There's no more reason to tiptoe around skittish state leaders who root for the Vikings but won't commit public money to maintain their long-term presence.

It's time for the Vikings to play their last remaining card, the one I'm surprised they haven't used already.

What's the secret to securing public financing for a new stadium?

Relocation.

Relocation.

Relocation.

(Or at least the threat thereof.)

Even after their Metrodome lease expired, the Vikings couldn't advance their stadium bill through a single committee in the Minnesota Senate. It was rejected outright late Monday night by committee in the Minnesota House of Representatives, and prominent state Rep. John Kriesel said of the bill via Twitter: "it is almost certainly dead this year."

Vikings spokesman Lester Bagley reacted angrily to the committee vote, telling reporters "it would be a mistake" to believe the team won't react accordingly to the news.

To me, there is only one reaction remaining.

Bagley and the Vikings' owning Wilf family have tried to work within the system. One of the first things Zgyi Wilf said when he bought the team in 2005 was that he would never move it. He's changed stadium strategies repeatedly upon direction from state leaders, including an abandonment of his 2006 effort to make political room for new parks for the Minnesota Twins and the University of Minnesota. The Vikings also buried a year's worth of work at their chosen site in suburban Arden Hills because political and business leaders wanted the stadium to remain in downtown Minneapolis.

It's time for Wilf to acknowledge in a public way that Minnesota state leaders might not be willing to support any part of the financing of a $975 million stadium. If that's the case, it would only make prudent business sense for the Vikings to begin investigating stadium sites outside of Minnesota.

I truly don't think the Vikings, the Wilf family or the NFL want to move the franchise. But state leaders felt little urgency after the Vikings allowed the NFL's Feb. 15 deadline for relocation applications to pass. As disappointing as it sounds, there aren't many legislative bodies left in this country that will take on controversial long-term issues when they don't absolutely, positively, have to. The Vikings don't have a lease, but they also haven't given themselves an option and have essentially asked state leaders to give them a break for playing by the rules.

I've always followed the theory that the Vikings' stadium issue wouldn't be addressed in a meaningful way until a crisis was at hand. And a crisis is not the expiration of a lease, at least if it's not accompanied by at least a realistic possibility that the franchise can act on its status as free agents and seek other options.

The Vikings have avoided the threat of relocation for obvious reasons. It's distasteful. It can hurt feelings, bruise egos and create long-lasting ill will in the community. I can't say I would enjoy covering it.

But I'll be fascinated to see if the Vikings find a way to avoid it now.

It's time.

If not now, when?