Stadium thread

[glg]

I think this is right. Word in LA is the NFL has been quietly negotiating with the Rose Bowl as a temporary home of an NFL team. Rose Bowl in midst of extensive and expensive renovations may cause Pasadena leaders to sign up. NFL is prepared to support the move if Minnesota drops out by refusing to pony up.

While there isn't an "NFL level" stadium in LA right now, there are short term options. If the Rose Bowl doesn't want it, the Coliseum probably would. Angels Stadium might even still work (Rams played there. I know they took down some of the bleachers that were added for football, but I don't think they've changed the field substantially)

[CalVike]

While there isn't an "NFL level" stadium in LA right now, there are short term options. If the Rose Bowl doesn't want it, the Coliseum probably would. Angels Stadium might even still work (Rams played there. I know they took down some of the bleachers that were added for football, but I don't think they've changed the field substantially)

Agree they will find a stadium for temporary play without difficulty when they find a team to move. I believe the Coliseum is out of the picture because USC has veto power over any such arrangement (and they are fighting the State, which owns the venue, over who pays for their desired renovations).

[glg]

I believe the Coliseum is out of the picture because USC has veto power over any such arrangement (and they are fighting the State, which owns the venue, over who pays for their desired renovations).

Why on earth did the state give that power to USC? Did they pay for some previous renovations?

I would think USC could be made to not exercise that veto if the NFL really needed it (ie, $$$$)

[CalVike]

Edit: I really messed up Cut & Paste on Ver1 of this post.

Why on earth did the state give that power to USC? Did they pay for some previous renovations?

I would think USC could be made to not exercise that veto if the NFL really needed it (ie, $$$$)

This recent article explains where it stands.

http://espn.go.com/los-angeles/ncf/stor ... l-coliseum

It sounds like state reneged on $$$ for renovations. So USC will take control and pay for renovations. It does bring the Coliseum back in play, if USC wants it. NFL likes more control of its venues than USC may be willing to give is the sense I get, reading years and years of articles from LA and MN on stadium issues.

[PurpleMustReign]

http://www.startribune.com/politics/sta ... 58798.html

After a daylong private meeting, Minnesota Senate Republicans selected Dave Senjem of Rochester as their new majority leader.

Senators announced Tuesday evening that Senjem, a retired environmental affairs officer for Mayo Clinic, would lead the caucus after spending hours sequestered in a conference room at a Radisson hotel in Roseville..

Anyone know wht this guy's views on a stadium are?

[CalVike]

Anyone know wht this guy's views on a stadium are?

This article by SavetheVikes.org claims Dave Senjem's getting the position keeps stadium hopes alive.

http://www.savethevikes.org/2011/12/21/ ... w-stadium/

[glg]

This recent article explains where it stands.

http://espn.go.com/los-angeles/ncf/stor ... l-coliseum

It sounds like state reneged on $$$ for renovations. So USC will take control and pay for renovations. It does bring the Coliseum back in play, if USC wants it. NFL likes more control of its venues than USC may be willing to give is the sense I get, reading years and years of articles from LA and MN on stadium issues.

Okay, after reading the article, it all makes sense. It also sounds like USC could sublease to an NFL team, so they'd probably be willing given some lease money coming in. I agree that it's less control than the NFL would like, so it's not a long term option (I don't think it has the luxury amenities and NFL team would need either), but short term, it could work.

[CalVike]

Here's an article about where Rose Bowl stands as a temporary home.

http://articles.glendalenewspress.com/2 ... s-nfl-team

[joe h]

Here's an article about where Rose Bowl stands as a temporary home.

http://articles.glendalenewspress.com/2 ... s-nfl-team

So the stadium has been sitting in Pasadena since 1920, but 10 NFL games a year, for 3 years max, is too much for a small group Pasadena morons. That right there is the reason I could never live in California, and hopefully Minnesota bypasses all that petty bs if they ever get moving on building the damn thing. It may also take Minnesota out of the running. Angels and Dodgers stadiums would take at least a year to renovate, and usc seems to have the coliseum locked up. So anyone moving to LA will have to put up with a season of empty seats.

[dead_poet]

Minnesota Vikings Stadium: Minnesota GOP Elects Dave Senjem Majority Leader

A couple of weeks ago, Amy Koch (who I believed to be fairly anti-stadium) resigned her post as Minnesota's Senate Majority Leader after it was discovered that she was having an inappropriate relationship. This evening, the Minnesota Republican Party chose a Senate Majority Leader, and the result appears to be a decidedly positive one for the Vikings' stadium effort.

The Minnesota GOP selected Rochester's Dave Senjem to be their new majority leader. According to the Minneapolis Star-Tribune:
Sounds pretty good to me.

I got confirmation that the selection of Senjem was a positive from Representative John Kriesel, via the Twitter.

http://www.dailynorseman.com/2011/12/27 ... m-majority

[CalVike]

http://m.startribune.com/news/?id=136407918&c=y

The Minnesota Vikings are taking a closer look at a stadium site in downtown Minneapolis near the Basilica of St. Mary, a $1.03 billion proposal that so far is the least known of the team's possible new homes.

Ted Mondale, Dayton's chief stadium negotiator, said the Linden Avenue site "has a lot of possibilities" but added that all four sites being discussed for a new stadium have strengths and weaknesses. He added, however, that team, state and local officials were moving closer to selecting a site. "If we're not talking about [one] site in mid-January, we're behind," Mondale said on Thursday.

[CalVike]

http://m.startribune.com/news/?id=136513268&c=y

From the sidelines before Sunday's final Vikings game of the season, Vice President Lester Bagley noted the end of the team's lease at the 30-year-old Metrodome. ...

State leaders "want us to give them certainty," he said. "We haven't got any certainty regarding the future of this team in Minnesota."

[CalVike]

http://m.twincities.com/twincities/db_3 ... d=ZOblgajo

Similar article from Pioneer Press.

[dead_poet]

Wilf meets with Senjem; stadium deal 'in the works shortly'

Minnesota Vikings owner Zygi Wilf said Tuesday he met with Sen. David Senjem, the new Senate majority leader, and said the Vikings “feel that a deal is going to be in the works shortly” to build a new stadium.

Wilf met with Senjem a week after Senjem was chosen to replace Sen. Amy Koch, R-Buffalo, who resigned abruptly last month as Senate majority leader after acknowledging she had an inappropriate relationship with a Senate staff member.

"It was just a real good meet and greet," said Sen. Julie Rosen, R-Fairmont, the lead Senate stadium legislation author, who also attended the meeting. "I think the Wilfs wanted to just talk with the new majority leader and get a feel for what kind of man we have in place there -- a good, steady hand at the steering wheel."

Wilf agreed that the meeting went well. “This morning we met with Senators Senjem, now the majority leader, and Senator Rosen,” said Wilf. “And they’re very encouraged on the progress we’re making.”

Senjem has in the past been a supporter of exploring ways to help build a new Vikings stadium.

Ted Mondale, Gov. Mark Dayton’s lead stadium negotiator, said last week that stadium supporters hoped to have a stadium site chosen by mid-January. While the Vikings want to build a new $1.1 billion stadium in Ramsey County’s Arden Hills, Minneapolis officials are pushing three sites in the state’s largest city for the team’s new home.

The Legislature is scheduled to begin meeting Jan. 24, and stadium supporters have promised that legislation outlining a public funding package for the project will be unveiled soon.

http://www.startribune.com/politics/blo ... 25858.html

[dead_poet]

Vikings apparently warming up to Minneapolis locations

On Christmas, Peter King reported that the Vikings will get a new stadium in Minnesota; he said it’s no longer a matter of “if” but “when.”

Still, the “where” remains unknown.

The Vikings long have preferred a rural site, at an abandoned World War II ammunition plant in Arden Hills. Last year, a celebratory press conference announcing a deal to build the stadium there had a premature feel, and for good reason.

The powers-that-be have nudged the Vikings toward keeping the stadium in an urban setting, and the Minneapolis Star Tribune reports that the owner Zygi Wilf has indicated privately to political leaders that the team is warming up to the possibility of a new stadium in Minneapolis.

Though Wilf apparently has little interest in a new venue at the site of the Metrodome, Senator David Senjem said that Wilf showed politicians maps detailing the manner in which a new stadium would fit in two other Minneapolis locations, including a site closer to Target Field, where the Twins currently play.

The Vikings’ Metrodome lease has expired, but the annual legislative session opens January 24. It’ll be important to move quickly, especially since the Vikings currently are fair game to be wooed by other cities.

http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/20 ... locations/

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Pity. I loved the plans for Arden Hills. But I'm all for compromise as long as it gets done.