Stadium thread

[DavidKarki]

They need to get something done. I'm tired of rumors of the Viking leaving Minnesota. I love football, and even more I love the Vikings. Without the Vikings football will not exist anymore to me. I wonder if there's a way to pay some of my taxes towards a new stadium. I live in Delaware, and if all I had to do is pay 1/2 a cent per dollar to keep the Vikings in Minnesota, I would be thrilled.

Oh, it's not rumor; it's REALITY. The Arden Hills bill is close to dead, and all this referendum talk is a veritable stake through its heart. The Legislature has never wanted to do this and never will, and all this jerking of Zygi's chain is just to cover their butts and provide a veneer of semi-plausible deniability when the franchise leaves for Los Angeles in the spring.

From demanding a local funding partner when they knew full well no county could afford it, to "state money" that would never materialize (based on "user fees" that would make attending a game unaffordable), to demanding referendums they know will fail after Zygi finally gives them a local partner in Ramsey County.....ALL of this charade just so the slimy politicians can pretend they favor a new stadium while simultaneously ensuring it will never become reality. It's all just one decade-long exercise in wiping their fingerprints off the knife they've plunged into the Vikings franchise and its fans' hearts.

Zygi needs to end this farcical, insulting display once and for all: get Anschutz in here, sign the L.A. sale/re-location deal, then call a press conference, hold the contract up for all to see, and tell MN that unless a new stadium is done to his specifications right NOW, he signs it and scans/e-mails it to Goodell at the NFL office in New York for an immediate unanimous approval vote by the other 31 owners. (OK, 30-1 since senile old goat Al Davis still thinks L.A. belongs to his Reyduhzz.) Yes, it's a Hail Mary pass tactic, but it's the only chance Zygi has left and there's nothing else to lose – as is the case when the real play is called, since reality is that the game has otherwise been lost.

At least Adrian Peterson (presuming Anschutz signs him to a monster deal to play in his new billion-dollar stadium next to Staples Center, and why on earth wouldn't he?) will make for a very marketable superstar to take over for an aging Kobe Bryant in the Hollywood market....young, handsome, ripped like a Greek god....he'll make even more money off the field than on it.

I would suggest that we all prepare ourselves, emotionally and otherwise, to not have Minnesota Vikings football and probably no NFL football in MN ever again. Stupid Legislature will build a stadium for an embarrassment of a loser in the Gopher program, but let the Vikings leave (and the Twins before them, had Hennepin County not stepped up to save them). Tells you all you need to know about this infernal state and where it's headed. The Vikings will be only the first of many to leave MN for greener pastures while they still can.

Cold Omaha, here we are....

[thatguy]

Oh, it's not rumor; it's REALITY. The Arden Hills bill is close to dead, and all this referendum talk is a veritable stake through its heart. The Legislature has never wanted to do this and never will, and all this jerking of Zygi's chain is just to cover their butts and provide a veneer of semi-plausible deniability when the franchise leaves for Los Angeles in the spring.

From demanding a local funding partner when they knew full well no county could afford it, to "state money" that would never materialize (based on "user fees" that would make attending a game unaffordable), to demanding referendums they know will fail after Zygi finally gives them a local partner in Ramsey County.....ALL of this charade just so the slimy politicians can pretend they favor a new stadium while simultaneously ensuring it will never become reality. It's all just one decade-long exercise in wiping their fingerprints off the knife they've plunged into the Vikings franchise and its fans' hearts.

Zygi needs to end this farcical, insulting display once and for all: get Anschutz in here, sign the L.A. sale/re-location deal, then call a press conference, hold the contract up for all to see, and tell MN that unless a new stadium is done to his specifications right NOW, he signs it and scans/e-mails it to Goodell at the NFL office in New York for an immediate unanimous approval vote by the other 31 owners. (OK, 30-1 since senile old goat Al Davis still thinks L.A. belongs to his Reyduhzz.) Yes, it's a Hail Mary pass tactic, but it's the only chance Zygi has left and there's nothing else to lose – as is the case when the real play is called, since reality is that the game has otherwise been lost.

At least Adrian Peterson (presuming Anschutz signs him to a monster deal to play in his new billion-dollar stadium next to Staples Center, and why on earth wouldn't he?) will make for a very marketable superstar to take over for an aging Kobe Bryant in the Hollywood market....young, handsome, ripped like a Greek god....he'll make even more money off the field than on it.

I would suggest that we all prepare ourselves, emotionally and otherwise, to not have Minnesota Vikings football and probably no NFL football in MN ever again. Stupid Legislature will build a stadium for an embarrassment of a loser in the Gopher program, but let the Vikings leave (and the Twins before them, had Hennepin County not stepped up to save them). Tells you all you need to know about this infernal state and where it's headed. The Vikings will be only the first of many to leave MN for greener pastures while they still can.

Cold Omaha, here we are....

Step back from the ledge.

[BGM]

You know, as a resident for most of my life of Minnesota, it alarms me that the state government is taking so much heat in this whole fiasco. Let's face it, the Vikings stadium push was unfocused and suffered from terrible timing. The stadium deals were being pushed at exactly the same time that the state was wrangling over major budget cuts and facing a shut down. It would take a miracle worker of Anne Sullivan proportions to make a successful stadium push in a political atmosphere like that. It's an easy sell for fans, of course. But try selling a stadium deal for a team made up of millionaire players and a billionaire owner to residents who are struggling to stay in their houses or find a job. If everyone else is cutting back and making do, many folks view a new stadium as an unnecessary luxury.

There are as many valid arguments against public funding for a stadium as there are for it. The job of the team is to sell their side, and they have fallen WAY short of that. Of course, last season's debacle did not help one bit, and, honestly, neither did making it to the NFCC the season before. Honestly, the idea lost much of its momentum when the Anoka plan fell through and it ironically took a bigger hit when the Metrodome was repaired so quickly. Suddenly, all the furor over the "need" for a new stadium was lost on Joe and Jane Q. Public.

[purple guy]

You know, as a resident for most of my life of Minnesota, it alarms me that the state government is taking so much heat in this whole fiasco. Let's face it, the Vikings stadium push was unfocused and suffered from terrible timing. The stadium deals were being pushed at exactly the same time that the state was wrangling over major budget cuts and facing a shut down. It would take a miracle worker of Anne Sullivan proportions to make a successful stadium push in a political atmosphere like that. It's an easy sell for fans, of course. But try selling a stadium deal for a team made up of millionaire players and a billionaire owner to residents who are struggling to stay in their houses or find a job. If everyone else is cutting back and making do, many folks view a new stadium as an unnecessary luxury.

There are as many valid arguments against public funding for a stadium as there are for it. The job of the team is to sell their side, and they have fallen WAY short of that. Of course, last season's debacle did not help one bit, and, honestly, neither did making it to the NFCC the season before. Honestly, the idea lost much of its momentum when the Anoka plan fell through and it ironically took a bigger hit when the Metrodome was repaired so quickly. Suddenly, all the furor over the "need" for a new stadium was lost on Joe and Jane Q. Public.

I agree. Im actually a big Vikings fan, but opposed to public funding. My problem with the govt is they need to make A decision. Whatever their decision is, make it already. If they want the Vikings, figure out a way to make it happen. If they dont, put it to a public vote, when it gets voted down and they leave, they can say "Well, its what the public wanted."

Lester Bagley and the Wilfs certainly have done a terrible job planning, and selling their plan, no doubt about it. But the state has them jumping through hoops for what?? It looks to me like they have little or no interest in funding the thing, so just say as much. Proportionally, the Wilfs are contributing more than nearly any owner in the NFL (Jones and the Giants/Jets stadiums), so they are trying and they are consistent or better than other teams, and those teams are in much, much larger markets. Again, Im not for the state giving them anything, but as I have stated, its hardly the only thing the state does that I dont agree with. One way or another, they need to put this to rest.

[DavidKarki]

I agree. Im actually a big Vikings fan, but opposed to public funding. My problem with the govt is they need to make A decision. Whatever their decision is, make it already. If they want the Vikings, figure out a way to make it happen. If they dont, put it to a public vote, when it gets voted down and they leave, they can say "Well, its what the public wanted."

Lester Bagley and the Wilfs certainly have done a terrible job planning, and selling their plan, no doubt about it. But the state has them jumping through hoops for what?? It looks to me like they have little or no interest in funding the thing, so just say as much. Proportionally, the Wilfs are contributing more than nearly any owner in the NFL (Jones and the Giants/Jets stadiums), so they are trying and they are consistent or better than other teams, and those teams are in much, much larger markets. Again, Im not for the state giving them anything, but as I have stated, its hardly the only thing the state does that I dont agree with. One way or another, they need to put this to rest.

You know full well why they kicked the can down the road until now and why the state is making Zygi jump through hoops: so scumbag politicians can get re-elected. They see polls against a stadium and against losing the Vikings with equally large numbers and fervor. Given that, the only logical way to re-election is to look like they support a stadium, while simultaneously pulling the goalposts back to ensure it never actually happens. Hence the insistence on virtually impossible conditions, the holding of a stadium to standards nothing else in the state budget has ever been or will be, and so on. The LAST two things any of them will do is openly deny the Vikings, and move a stadium bill to a vote. Then they'd be on the record on the wrong side of at least one of those polls. Just keep being Lucy pulling the football away from Charlie Brown, and they can blame Zygi when he is forced to sell to Anschutz in L.A. all the way to 2012 re-election.

About all one can say to this is that MN government truly is representative, if those polls are right. Hypocrite voters who think they can not build a stadium and yet not lose the franchise elect hypocrite disingenuous politicians who fence-straddle to the bitter end. Garbage in, garbage out, right?

[glg]

Build a stadium every 30+ years, and too #### cheap to go for retractable. up yours zygi and the state if it's domed!

It won't be domed, nobody's building those anymore. would be like ford field with a roof.

[Eli]

Like this. Looks like a giant fieldhouse. I imagine the Vikings version will have a lot of glass and chrome and much less old style brickwork.

[Raptorman]

People act like the Vikings are the only ones who are going to use the stadium. They use the Metrodome at most 14 days a year. You can't tell me others are not using it. While they don't need the space in the seats that the Vikings do it will be used by others. And oh, yeah, what else are they going to do with the Arden Hills site. They have had so many plans and ideas for it so far. If they don't build the stadium there, that land will remain empty for the next 10 years. Owned by the Federal Government generating zero tax dollars. This is not just a stadium it's a business area as well.

I understand the idea of not wanting to the public to pay for a stadium. I don't agree that only one county should be paying for it. That's why something like a 1 cent tax on a beer or drinks would make sense. People will buy it no matter what the price, and no one can complain that it is something they "have" to buy. But the politicians won't go down that route. Makes to much sense. They will hem and haw and then try to pass legislation that keeps the Vikings name in MN. A name with no team. At least it won't cost them anything.

Mark my words, if new stadium is not on the horizon by next March I say Zygi will put the team up for sale. And I would not blame him. He won't move them, but the next owner will. And 5 years after the Vikings leave people in MN will be clamoring for a new team. Only they won't have any team or owner willing to pay 40% of the cost of a new stadium, it will be all on the taxpayers to build it. This is not something that has just come up, the Vikings have been saying for years they need a new stadium to stay competitive. They have been told, be patient. I think they have been. I'm afraid the anti-tax people will get what they want and the Vikings will be in LA sooner than later.

From the history of the Tennessee Titans

At the same time, Adams again lobbied the city for a new stadium, one with club seating and other revenue generators present in recently–built NFL stadiums. However, mayor Bob Lanier turned him down almost out of hand. Although Houstonians wanted to keep the Oilers, they were leery of investing more money on a stadium so soon after the Astrodome improvements. The city was also still struggling to recover from the oil collapse of the 1980s. Adams, sensing that he was not going to get the stadium he wanted, began shopping the Oilers to other cities. He was particularly intrigued by Nashville, and opened secret talks with mayor Phil Bredesen. At the end of the 1995 season, Adams announced that the Oilers would be moving to Nashville for the 1998 season.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of ... see_Titans

[Eli]

I don't agree that only one county should be paying for it.

But if that county benefits from jobs, real estate taxes, sales taxes, or economic development because of the stadium being located there, then it makes sense that they'd be willing to pay something for the stadium. How much is the question. The Ramsey County portion of the tab does seem high, but I'm sure that's only because the rest of Minnesota has so stubbornly refused to recognize their responsibility for replacing the old stadium.

[Demi]

It won't be domed, nobody's building those anymore. would be like ford field with a roof.

oops that's what I meant.

[thatguy]

You know, as a resident for most of my life of Minnesota, it alarms me that the state government is taking so much heat in this whole fiasco. Let's face it, the Vikings stadium push was unfocused and suffered from terrible timing. The stadium deals were being pushed at exactly the same time that the state was wrangling over major budget cuts and facing a shut down.

You realize the franchise has been pushing for a new stadium for like 15 years now? The state just hasn't listened because they're as political as they come. I say "political" because they only make choices based on getting re-elected, not because they actually believe in anything.

[PurpleMustReign]

Who determines if a referendum is necessary?

[CCthebest]

Didnt Dayton say he would do everything possible to get the Vikes a stadium? In one of the debates with the Rep guy, I forget his name. I dont think Dayton has don a thing. I know times are tough but we are talking about history!

[Demi]

Didnt Dayton say he would do everything possible to get the Vikes a stadium? In one of the debates with the Rep guy, I forget his name. I dont think Dayton has don a thing. I know times are tough but we are talking about history!

You just don't give up!
There was a story in this thread where he did "a thing". He's also said he'd call a session. Has been in touch with both sides.

Pawlenty was here 8 years, and did less in eight YEARS than Dayton's did in 4 months.

[CCthebest]

You just don't give up!
There was a story in this thread where he did "a thing". He's also said he'd call a session. Has been in touch with both sides.

Pawlenty was here 8 years, and did less in eight YEARS than Dayton's did in 4 months.

I dont recall Pawlenty saying he would.