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Earlier in the fall Vikings’ fans heard some news that perhaps the Vikings would be moving to L.A. if they are not able to get a new stadium subsidized almost fully by the state. On Thursday the Metropolitan Sports Facility Commission, MSFC, took matters into their own hands by passing a resolution to extend the Viking’s contract another two years charging the Vikings for an extra two years after the end of their contract in 2011.
MSFC’s resolution plans
This came as a huge surprise to Vikings’ ownership team, Zygi and Mark Wilf. The two have been said to be leveraging L.A.’s bid for the subsidized stadium to get Minnesota’s decision makers to the bargaining table with urgency to keep the Vikings in the state. It turns out that the state has moved in turn to keep both the tax payers and the Vikings’ fans content. The new lease would keep the Vikings in the stadium an extra two years earning the Metrodome $4 million a year. The plan has penalties for the Vikings if they do not resign but it is making an appeal through added lease incentives.
The Vikings’ stadium plans
The plan is not fully biased towards the MSFC; the plan has given the Vikings’ incentive to sign the contract by giving them post-season ticket receipt income. The Vikings headed by the Wilf ownership team will decline to sign a new lease that does not include plans for a new stadium. The Vikings’ are also said to have plans to continue to lobby the state for a new stadium, all while the state’s budget sits at an all time low, which is set to be around a $1.1 billion deficit for the 2010-2011 biennium.
Conclusion, what is the next step
The Vikings will have to show the state and the MSFC that building a stadium with a high price tag will benefit the state. This is something that becomes extremely hard as the state’s deficit grows larger and the economy settles in a lower than normal level. Bringing Brett Favre into the game and leveraging L.A.’s bid are all good moves by the Vikings but winning games and being a popular team might not be enough to spend $950 million on a stadium during a biennium that the state will see close to a billion dollar deficit in.
Comments
Brilliant? Since only two years are left on the current lease, the Vikings may as well decide to leave for California at the end of this season and play in a temporary stadium out there while their new home is custom built for them. Problem solved! If this is the government minds think in Minnesota, that state will go extinct.
Bob, Good points. Something to look at though is the economic indicators in L.A. often do not appeal to sports teams, which is why often teams overlook the city to play in. Many people in the industry are saying that the thought of the Vikings moving to L.A. is just pure leverage for the Vikings to get a new stadium and that the Vikings' management team has just been waiting for the state to call their bluff. Keep in mind sports teams are not all that makes a state popular or profitable. We are host to some of the largest companies around: Carlson, 3M, Cargill, Medtronics, and much more. Many big firms have large presences here like Thomson Reuters, which has its largest workforce in our state, and the workforce is growing in number as we speak. So if the Vikings do leave I have faith that we can still hold our own in the business sectors.
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