October 26, 2011

Vikings Stadium Thoughts

So we're headed for yet another legislative showdown in Minnesota over a stadium, this time the Vikings. A special session is set for next month in which lawmakers will consider whether to approve a state contribution to a new Vikings stadium in suburban Arden Hills.

Now, many people- led by the Vikings management, some politicians, Sid Hartman and especially that preening ass Mike Florio- would like for us to believe that if this stadium bill doesn't get approved this month, the Vikings are as good as gone to Los Angeles, probably as soon as 2012. Those people are all very, very wrong.

My prediction is, the bill doesn't get passed this year, as I can't see a Tea Party-controlled state legislature that just had a government shutdown finding a few hundred million lying around to throw at Zygi Wilf. But will the Vikings leave? No they will not. And that's because Los Angeles doesn't have their act together in terms of a stadium either. They have two proposals, both of which have big problems, and neither is likely to earn final passage in the near future.

I expect the Vikings situation to drag on for several more years, with a solution eventually emerging that puts a new stadium somewhere in downtown Minneapolis. But remember- the Twins' stadium debate dragged out for 12 years, and in that time the team came much closer, on more than one occasion, to leaving town than the Vikings are now.

The best situation would be an open-air stadium- better to give the Vikes the late-season advantage that cold-weather home towns enjoy- that requires not a whole lot of public funds. And no, it should not be in Arden Hills.

Posted by Stephen Silver at October 26, 2011 03:25 PM
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