Vikings Deflate Dome Negotiations

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The Minnesota Vikings, with Brett Favre at the helm, have all but clinched the NFC North division title with a 9-1 record.  Coach Brad Childress has been rewarded with a contract extension that lasts through 2013.  Purple Fever is breaking out all over Minnesota.

Now think down the road a little bit.  By 2013, Favre could retire once again (or not), Childress may or may not still be coaching, and the Vikings could be playing somewhere else.  Did someone just say Los Angeles?

The Vikings and the Metropolitan Sports Facilities Commission (MSFC) are currently at odds over a new lease agreement for what is now called Mall of America Field at the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome (try saying that three times fast).  The MSFC wanted to extend the lease past its original 2011 deadline rent-free, so that the team could have more time to put a stadium deal together.  If there was no agreement, the Vikings would be charged a couple of million a year.

The Vikings management reacted to this like spoiled children whose parents had taken away the car keys.  "How dare you!", they told the commission.  "We have a lease until 2011, and we're sticking to it".  Thye've broken off relarions with the commission.

Granted, the MSFC shot themselves in the foot with their threat to raise the rent.  It's all they could do to persuade their only remaining tenant (the Twins and football Gophers having gotten their own playpens) to remain in the fold, and to not be so heavily dependent on tractor pulls.

But the Vikings do have a point.  They have one of (if not the) worst stadium leases in the National Football League.  They can't add suites or extra seats to the existing facility, which would bring in more revenue.  And if revenue sharing in the NFL ever goes away . . . well, ask the Twins what it's like to compete financially with the Yankees and the Red Sox.

This isn't the first time the Vikings have lobbied for their own stadium, but it always seems as if their timing is lousy.  It's worse now, with Minnesota's unemployment and budget deficit  at record levels, Governor Tim Pawlenty seriously considering a run for President in 2012, and the Legislature not wanting to give voters a reason to kick them out in the 2010 election.

So what needs to be done to keep the Purple from setting up shop in sunny California?  Vikings owner Zygi Wilf mentioned to an audience in Austin that the current Metrodome site is where they want that new stadium, and that they'd also like a retractable roof to go along with it, which would add $200 million to the cost.  Unless the Wilfs decide to sell the team to someone else, they should chip in a few million of their own money.  Since the Legislature wuold be very reluctant to approve any kind of tax to fund the new stadium, maybe there should be a private corporation made up of individuals and companies to raise a little capital.  Getting around tax laws, however, might be a problem.

No one, not even Zygi Wilf, wants to see the Vikings leave Minnesota.  Unless the team, the Legilature and the MSFC get serious about a realistic plan to keep professional football in the state for the forseeable future, Minnesotans will soon be finding something else to do with their Sunday afternoons.