The Minnesota Vikings had a deal in place for a new stadium, following extensive negotiations with the state of Minnesota. That deal is dead now.
According to the Minneapolis Star Tribune, a Minnesota State legislature house panel, in a 9-6 vote, rejected the subsidy package that was a part of the stadium deal. With the legislature about to be adjourned in two weeks, you can throw the idea of a new stadium in Minnesota in the fire.
“It’s a mistake to think the Vikings and the National Football League will continue with the status quo” of playing in the Metrodome without a new stadium, Vikings spokesman Lester Bagley said after the vote.
Minnesota Governor Mark Dayton echoed those sentiments. “We’ve got to get a stadium next year or the Vikings will leave,” Dayton told the Minneapolis Star Tribune. “If Minneapolis doesn’t want it — most of their legislators are opposed to it, half of the City Council, almost half, is opposed to it, so if Minneapolis doesn’t want it . . . then somewhere else, Arden Hills, some other site in Minnesota.”
“We can’t have it both ways. We can’t not do a new stadium and have the Vikings remain here for very long,” Dayton concluded.
If the Vikings were going to move, they had to announce their intentions back in February. Since they didn’t, they will play 2012 in the Metrodome, but beyond that, anything is on the table.
The Vikings playing in the Metrodome in 2012 is a smart move, as it gives the state one more chance to come up with something when the state legislative session starts again at the end of January in 2013. Also, it solves the issue of when does the lease really expire.
In 2010, the Vikings were forced to play two of its home games elsewhere as the roof of their dome collapsed due to a winter storm. That raised the question of whether the lease was extended another year due to the loss of home games. That is a moot point now with the Vikings locked in to playing in the Metrodome during the 2012 regular season.
The move by the Vikings does something else, it can alter the perspective of fans. When a National Football League team moves, fans look at the team (i.e. the billionaire owners) as the bad guys. However, with the Vikings doing everything in their power to get a deal to stay in Minnesota, the bad guy in this situation is now the state government.
The deal called for the Vikings to contribute $427 million towards the stadium, with the city of Minneapolis to contribute $150 million and the state to contribute $398 million.
