Fourth And Long For a Vikings Stadium

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Once again, the Minnesota Vikings struck out in their attempt to convince the state Legislature to give them a new football palace before the clock runs out on their Metrodome lease in 2011.

This time around, the Vikings put on a two-minute drill with two weeks left in the session, putting in provisions that would fund the stadium with fees (or taxes, if you prefer) on sports memorabilia and diverting the funds to pay for Minneapolis' convention center.  Also, the proposal would not have limited the site of the new stadium to Minneapolis, even though the land near the Metrodome is believed to be the team's preferred choice.

The whole thing never made it out of a House committee.  In fact, the only stadium legislation that was passed this year gave the University of Minnesota the power to allow alcohol in certain sections of TCF Bank Stadium.

So now what?  The Vikings issued a statement expressing their disappointment, to put it mildly, at the way things turned out.  But it was a foregone conclusion that nothing was going to get done this year.  Minnesota is in a budget crisis, and the Vikings' efforts were too little and too late, as if Brett Favre skipped the regular season and went right into the playoffs.

Jay Weiner wrote an excellent article on the situation for MinnPost, including why he thinks the lease expiration date is not a hard and fast one.  (See http://www.minnpost.com/  for details.)  But here are two other factors Weiner left out:

• The National Football League might want two teams--one each from the American and National conferences--sharing a new stadium in Los Angeles, just like the New York Giants and Jets are doing in New Jersey, so that each could be represented in the nation's second-largest TV market.  The Vikings could be co-tenants with an AFC franchise sunch as the San Diego Chargers or the Buffalo Bills.  And until the facility is ready, the Rose Bowl and Memorial Coliseum are still available.
• In a recent Star Tribune column, Sid Hartman speculated that the Vikings could land at the University of Alabama's football stadium.  First, the NFL would rather see the state's largest city Birmingham build a modern stadium.  Second, why would you want to go up against the Crimson Tide?

If the Vikings have any intention of staying in Minnesota beyond 2011, they need to do a better job of fine-tuning their stadium proposal, which includes putting together a coalition of financial and government partners, as well as cultivating enough legislative support to finally get this thing passed.  Oh, and it would also help if they used a little clock management so the bill doesn't look like a rush job.