Stadium thread

[vikeinmontana]

Guys, the stadium deal looks very, very bad at the moment. Like not happening bad.

shocking....

[HardcoreVikesFan]

Guys, the stadium deal looks very, very bad at the moment. Like not happening bad.

Minnesota doesn't realize the consequences of the VIkings leaving the state, and it is unfortunate.

[vikeinmontana]

Minnesota doesn't realize the consequences of the VIkings leaving the state, and it is unfortunate.

i agree.

[PurpleMustReign]

i agree.

And that is the short-sightedness that infuriates me about this state. The taxes aren't onl helping the TEAM, they are helping the state. Think about how much money the state could bring in bty hosting Final Fours, Super Bowls, etc.
Although the team should receive some blame for not being completely ready, the fact that the state is unwilling to work with the team is depressing.
I hope there is a special session for the stadium. Maybe with the sole focus being a Stadium it will have abetter chance of passing.

[Eli]

Minnesota doesn't realize the consequences of the VIkings leaving the state, and it is unfortunate.

No, I think they do. The trouble is that the politicians are playing politics with the issue. If it were put up to the voters and they turned down a temporary sales tax increase to finance a new stadium, I'd be shocked. Nothing that politicians do shocks me.

Is there no way to get a referendum of that nature on the fall ballot? Take it out of the hands of people who are only worried about getting reelected.

[vikeinmontana]

like many things in our lives, this might just be another example of people not realizing how great something is...until it's gone. i have lived in montana for over 20 years now so i fully admit that if the vikings were to leave it wouldn't hurt me near as bad as it would most of you. i'll still be a die-hard fan. it just means that rather than going back "home" to see a game and visit family as well, i guess i might be traveling to california.

at this point, if the team leaves i won't blame them a bit. if the people in minnesota really can't understand how beneficial having an nfl team is...then i'm sorry. but after jobs are lost, and more importantly revenue within the cities and states, i think people will begin to see what a mistake it was. unfortunately by then, the vikes will be long gone and the city will be making a push to bring in another franchise.

oops...

[dead_poet]

The Minnesota Vikings will have to wait a little longer for a new stadium, because legislators say it will not be on their agenda for a special session next week.

"There's not a lot of support for cutting people off health care, cutting jobs, then turning around and authorizing bonding for a stadium," said Rep. Michael Nelson, DFL-Brooklyn Park, a co-sponsor of the stadium bill.

Sen. Julie Rosen, R-Fairmont, said that Gov. Mark Dayton may call a second special session later this year to deal with the stadium. "We will have a vote and we'll work to get it passed," Rosen said. "But if I tried to get a vote on it right now, I'd be strung up."

http://www.startribune.com/politics/sta ... 71773.html

[Demi]

"There's not a lot of support for cutting people off health care, cutting jobs, then turning around and authorizing bonding for a stadium," said Rep. Michael Nelson, DFL-Brooklyn Park, a co-sponsor of the stadium bill.

Yeah, it'd be terrible to turn around and say "We've just created hundreds of jobs improving the roads and constructing a new stadium". And all of the materials needed? Gee, I wonder if maybe some companies could use that kind of business.

*sigh* No, push it forward some more when costs will be even higher.

[Vikingsfan4321]

Still think that hundreds of temporary construction jobs are a hard sell to people that lost there health insurance or permanent government job. I really don't see how in this time a stadium can get funded.

[dead_poet]

I really don't see how in this time a stadium can get funded.

That's the thing. There's never the perfect time.

[Vikingsfan4321]

That's the thing. There's never the perfect time.

Agreed. But there are better times than other and this is just awful. I am all for a stadium, I hope a deal does get worked out but I just really cant think of a worst time to be trying this. Not that there is really any choice.

[dead_poet]

Seifert's take:

In essence, that headline was the answer the Minnesota Vikings received Friday evening. State leaders have decided against introducing their bill for a new stadium during next week's special session of the state legislature. The Star Tribune has the story.

State Sen. Julie Rosen, one of the co-sponsors of the bill, remains committed to the issue but said she would be "strung up" if she introduced it immediately after months of political haggling over a state budget. Rosen said the bill could be addressed at a second special session in the fall. Gov. Mark Dayton said through a spokesperson that he would consider calling the second session but wouldn't commit to it.

I can understand state leaders being unwilling to dish out some $650 million in public money days after delaying $700 million in funding to K-12 education in order to balance the budget. But none of them should be proud of the way they have handled state business, including the stadium issue. Most of their budget decisions merely pushed difficult choices into the future, and now the same thing has happened with the Vikings.

Earlier Friday, owner Zygi Wilf told Dayton "the time is now" to approve the stadium. The team has made no public comment since that I'm aware of. Given how far the Vikings came on the Arden Hills proposal, I'm guessing they won't totally abandon it as long as a second special session remains on the table. It's also possible they will listen to those who prefer the stadium to be built in downtown Minneapolis. Regardless, what's a few more months at the end of a decade-long fight?

On the other hand, it's worth repeating that the Vikings have only 10 games remaining on their Metrodome lease. They would be well within their rights to listen to alternatives should Minnesota's political dysfunction continue to cloud their future.

I've never felt stronger about my two primary tenets of this fight:

Long ago, a wise person suggested the stadium issue would not be resolved until it fell into a full-blown crisis. In political terms, it's not yet a crisis when a team has six months remaining on its lease. A crisis, politically speaking, is arriving at the late-January start of the 2012 session and finding the mayor of Los Angeles camped outside the Vikings' facility. Until we get to that level of dramatics, no one will be willing to risk political capital on an NFL stadium.

There is no right or wrong answer. It's merely a choice. The state is not obligated to provide a cent of funding for a new stadium. But if that's the decision, the state must recognize that eventually the Vikings will leave. The time for foot-stomping and asking why Wilf won't build a privately-funded stadium is over. It's time for everyone to make an informed choice and then live with the consequences, one way or the other.

http://espn.go.com/blog/nfcnorth

[Duchene]

Seifert's take:
http://espn.go.com/blog/nfcnorth

Not the biggest Siefert fan here, but I will say I agree with this. It appears it is going to get all the way to crisis mode when the lease actually expires before anyone actually does anything about it. I just hope it isn't too late at that point...

[dead_poet]

It appears it is going to get all the way to crisis mode when the lease actually expires before anyone actually does anything about it. I just hope it isn't too late at that point...

That's the thing, I considered it a "crisis" before last season. If anything was done then Vikings would have still had to find other arrangements for a few years. So I suppose it depends on your interpretation of the word "crisis." Right now I think we've surpassed "crisis" and have entered "You gotta be f*cking kidding me" mode. And still nothing is being done.

[dead_poet]

Gov. Mark Dayton is "unsure" he would call a fall special session for #Vikings. Dayton says he might wait until next year. Dayton says he takes calling a special session "seriously" and doesn't know if a #Vikings stadium would be reason to do so. “I haven’t decided,” Dayton told reporters about a #Vikings special session. “It’s not ready to be considered at this point."

#Vikings Veep Bagley will only say "We're assessing our options." He would say no more about what those include, but he sounded glum.

Rochelle Olson on Twitter

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Yes, wait until next year when costs are even higher and the Vikings are franchise free agents. I'm sure all of Minnesota's budget issues will be worked out by then.

"Might wait until next year." Exactly the same mentality that led us here. So frustrating.