Looks like we finally have a better idea of how this should play out.
The long-awaited groundbreaking for the $975 million Vikings stadium is tentatively set for October 2013, an official with the Minnesota Sports Facilities Authority said Friday.
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"Until the construction manager is hired, we won't know the exact timeline," he said. "As soon as they start to dig in, they will come to us with a more concrete schedule. But we think it's safe to say it's fourth quarter of 2013 for groundbreaking. And most importantly, we're on track for an August 2016 opening."
Which should mean that all of next season (2013) would be played at the Metrodome. Demolition of the dome would have to take place sometime in 2014, probably not long after the season ends. So all of the 2014 and 2015 seasons will be played at TCF.
I wonder how playing two years outdoors in Minnesota in a college stadium might affect free agents' decisions toward the Vikings.
I don't playing at TCF would make much of a difference if the team looked good. Packers, Bears, Patriots and the Giants all play outdoors and I don't know of any free agent issues with those teams.
I thought I heard somewhere that this year was going to our last year at the Dome. Then we have 2 years and would need to find somewhere else to play. Then the 4th year is at the Gophers stadium. Then after that is when the new stadium is ready.
Is that true or was I just reading something wrong? I wasn't able to make it to a game this year so I am really hoping that we play at the Dome next season so I can say my goodbyes
About 120 restaurants and bars now offer the video pulltab devices, a far cry from the 2,500 projected to be up and running by July. And gross sales through December were $4.2 million, far behind the $17.2 million projected to be raised by the end of July.
The Vikings do not want baseball, nor do they support the concept of a people's stadium in any meaningful way. It is not surprising, but it is disappointing their selfishness in light of the public money invested.
But that design squeezes some baseball dimensions.
The most glaring -- a right-field foul line that extends 285 feet from home plate and a right-field power alley 319 feet away. Both distances are short by college and professional standards, and both are about 20 feet shorter than the design, already scaled back, favored by baseball coaches and the public stadium authority.
But, he (Lester Bagley) added, "Fundamentally, this is a football stadium, and what the Vikings invested in was a first-class fan experience. ... We're in a dogfight with HDTV. We've got to get our fans off the couch and away from the TVs and get them to the stadium. That's more important to us."
Why would they want to support baseball? Making it a pure football stadium helps reduce costs for having to support mobile seating, etc. Plus if they want to use a pro stadium for baseball Target Field is not to far away. How was it any different for when the twins and vikes shared the dome and people wanted to use the dome. They had to schedule around the twins.
PotGoblin wrote:Why would they want to support baseball?
I don't understand that, either. I mean I understand the idea that it's publicly funded, so needs to be usable for other activities, but not if it compromises any aspect of the design that makes it the best football stadium that can be had for the $$$.
Eli wrote:
I don't understand that, either. I mean I understand the idea that it's publicly funded, so needs to be usable for other activities, but not if it compromises any aspect of the design that makes it the best football stadium that can be had for the $$$.
Because baseball was always part of the deal. The people's stadium will be used hundreds of times per year for college and high school baseball and a mere 8-10 times per year for pro football. This was always in the bargain for public funding. Without baseball, the deal is beyond horrible for taxpayers and it's better to let the team walk to LA.
Eric Grubman was one of the NFL bigwigs who strong armed Minnesota to sign on the dotted line, linked article from LA Times shows how he thinks stadiums may change in future to draw fans off the couches.
What if a new stadium we built wasn't 70,000, but it was 40,000 seats with 20,000 standing room?" he said. "But the standing room was in a bar-type environment with three sides of screens, and one side where you see the field. Completely connected. And in those three sides of screens, you not only got every piece of NFL content, including replays, Red Zone [Channel], and analysis, but you got every other piece of news and sports content that you would like to have if you were at home.
Hundreds of baseball games that probably never see 1000 fans. Play them in a damned sandlot with 1000 bleacher seats. Hell, have Ziggy build them a new baseball field for $1M.
Eric Grubman was one of the NFL bigwigs who strong armed Minnesota to sign on the dotted line, linked article from LA Times shows how he thinks stadiums may change in future to draw fans off the couches.
Yeah, exactly what everyone wants... drive an hour into the city, pay $150 for a ticket and $30 to park so you can stand in a sports bar, then take 30 minutes to get out of the parking lot and another hour to drive home.
I do understand what he's saying, though. For the most part, I'd rather watch a game from home on TV rather than go through the expense and hassles of attending a live game. A couple times a year I do go through the expense and the trouble, but I'd never own season tickets. Maybe that's some indication of a ceiling that the NFL has hit - it's become too damned expensive for many people to attend very often, if at all.
Eli wrote:Hundreds of baseball games that probably never see 1000 fans. Play them in a damned sandlot with 1000 bleacher seats. Hell, have Ziggy build them a new baseball field for $1M.
It does not matter your opinion on the baseball, Eli. A deal is a deal, whether the NFL crowd give a rat's #### or not. The Vikings should cave and allow the baseball dimensions to go forward without a fight. It's a useless battle in my opinion. So the football fans lose twenty to forty feet in some areas. Big deal.
Eli wrote:
Yeah, exactly what everyone wants... drive an hour into the city, pay $150 for a ticket and $30 to park so you can stand in a sports bar, then take 30 minutes to get out of the parking lot and another hour to drive home.
I do understand what he's saying, though. For the most part, I'd rather watch a game from home on TV rather than go through the expense and hassles of attending a live game. A couple times a year I do go through the expense and the trouble, but I'd never own season tickets. Maybe that's some indication of a ceiling that the NFL has hit - it's become too damned expensive for many people to attend very often, if at all.
Add drunkenness and loutish behavior, I will take a pass on bringing my young family on cost and poor fan experience. I took in the Vikings-Packers game from club seats in Lambeau Field. I will do that once, but season tickets are not worth it. My home or local restaurant with Sunday ticket are just fine for me. The ticket alone was $250 for the Lambeau Club seat.
BTW, someone 3 seats away at Lambeau was puking their guts out. Not enjoyable. Someone turned them in but person was not kicked out.
