Twin Cities Daily Planet (https://www.tcdailyplanet.net/tag/vikings-stadium/page/8/)
As Minnesota ponderously negotiates a new professional football stadium deal, replacing the aging and increasingly obsolete Metro Dome, it’s simultaneously navigating the challenging waters of public opinion. Continue Reading
Labor, business and community leaders joined forces at a February 6 news conference to urge support for a new Vikings Stadium.
The Vikings and the University of Minnesota have reached a tentative deal to let the team play at TCF Bank Stadium while a new stadium near the Metrodome site is under construction.The agreement includes adding 3,000 extra temporary endzone seats to accommodate season ticket holders. That would put the nearly 3-year-old stadium’s capacity at almost 54,000 — about 9,000 fewer seats than the Metrodome.“We don’t have a draft agreement yet,” Vice President of University Services Kathleen O’Brien said. “But, we’ve talked through the elements and know how an agreement would be structured. It would be very easy for us to bring to a conclusion.”That conclusion could be reached in the coming days. Gov. Mark Dayton told reporters Tuesday that a financing agreement between Minneapolis, the state and the Vikings could come next week.Installing heating coils in the field could also be necessary, as the Vikings would be playing later into the cold months on a hard surface. Continue Reading
Duluth is now yet another city to be a possible site for the new Minnesota Vikings stadium.In a letter to Gov. Mark Dayton Thursday, Sen. Roger Reinert, DFL-Duluth, proposed the stadium to be constructed southwest of downtown Duluth, on 500 acres formally occupied by the U.S. Steel/Atlas Cement work site.Reinert said he wants to offer an alternative to the Twin Cities, while also advocating for his constituency.”My goal wasn’t to solve the entire problem, it was to put Duluth into the mix,” Reinert said.In the proposal, Reinert referenced the success of Green Bay, Wis., home to the Green Bay Packers, which is similar in size to Duluth. Green Bay is approximately the same distance from Madison – a major metro area – as Duluth is from the Minneapolis-St. Paul metro.Duluth attracts 3.5 million tourists annually, which brings in $750-780 million in profits, according to the proposal. Seventy percent of the tourists are from the Twin Cities metro area.Another factor that could potentially boost the Duluth site is the Northern Lights Express, Reinert said. The NLX is three months away from completing an environmental assessment, after which primary stages of engineering may begin. Continue Reading
About 100 members of the Occupy movement occupied Minnesota Governor Mark Dayton’s waiting room Tuesday afternoon for a short time. Capitol security and state troopers ushered the group back out into the hall in front of the Governor’s office.”Money for people not for stadiums” chanted the group. Referring to Governor Dayton’s current focus on public funding for a Vikings football stadium.Troopers closed the doors to the Governor’s office after the protesters were ushered out. No one was arrested.The Governor had just completed a news conference where the press peppered him with questions about a potential stadium deal. Tomorrow he is scheduled to meet with Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak and Vikings owner Ziggy Wilf.(Video and photo by Nick Coleman) Continue Reading
If the Minnesota Vikings decide to build their new stadium at the Metrodome site, the University of Minnesota’s TCF Bank Stadium would likely be the team’s new home for the next three seasons.TCF Bank Stadium would need $11 million in upgrades in order to meet NFL standards, according to a letter sent to Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak and City Council President Barbara Johnson from the Vikings. The letter said that the upgrades would benefit the University on a long-term basis. The city of Minneapolis has marked the Metrodome as its preferred site because it costs less than the alternatives.On Wednesday, Gov. Mark Dayton discussed merits and downsides to each stadium proposal. Traffic congestion and parking would be problematic if the Vikings play at TCF Bank Stadium, he said.Dayton signaled interest in the proposed Linden Avenue site and its ability to spur economic development. “The site offers significant advantages over the Metrodome, particularly its proximity to the Target Center, Target Field, downtown hotels, restaurants, etc.” Dayton said in a statement.But Dayton made it clear that no plan is perfect.“Regrettably, there is not yet a stadium proposal with a complete and sufficient financial plan … and no site sponsor has adequately resolved the major unanswered questions, in order to merit the approval to proceed.”As of last Thursday, Dayton received multiple site proposals to build a new Vikings stadium. The Vikings have remained adamant that their preferred site is in Arden Hills.Problems with TCF Bank StadiumIn December 2010, the Vikings played one game against the Chicago Bears in TCF Bank Stadium after the Metrodome roof collapsed in a snowstorm.According to the letter, the stadium’s 50,000 seats are significantly less than at the Metrodome and other NFL facilities, meaning the Vikings will lose out on $37 million from attendees over three years.“We have not sat down with the Vikings to discuss anything yet,” said Richard Pfutzenreuter, the University’s chief financial officer. “The University of Minnesota will play its part so the Vikings can play at TCF if the Metrodome site is chosen.”Pfutzenreuter said the Vikings have not shared what would be included in the $11 million of necessary upgrades, but that the logistics of the deal would not be simple.Vikings spokesman Jeff Anderson said on his Twitter account that upgrades would include installing heating technology under the field.“It’s an evolving issue and we need to make sure the schedules are worked out so it does not interfere or disrupt students and classes if there were Monday or Thursday night games,” Pfutzenreuter said.Along with lost revenue and upgrades to TCF Bank Stadium, additional parking would need to be built at the new Metrodome site. Continue Reading
With less than a week until the legislative session begins, Gov.
Politicians, business interests and labor unions are applying a full-court press to build a new stadium for the Vikings (to mix sports metaphors). Team owners Zygi and Mark Wilf favor the old arsenal site in Arden Hills, while Minneapolis boosters – including Mayor R.T. Rybak and the Minneapolis Downtown Council – are dangling sales tax money to lure the Purple People Eaters to one of three proposed sites in the Mill City.Of course, the Vikes have fallen on hard times of late (a dismal 2-9 on the season, as The Circle goes to press); but this is Political Matters, not the Sports Report.Over at the Capitol, two Senate committees held a joint hearing Nov. 29 to hear testimony on proposed stadium sites. There is no bill in the hopper; and there is no funding mechanism for a new stadium (beyond the Wilfs’ offer to put up $425 million, with the remaining $600 million coming from somewhere).A faction in the Legislature, comprised of both Republicans and DFLers, is adamant that no public money be used to build a football stadium; at the same time, a knowledgeable source in St. Paul told me that the building trades unions and the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce are flexing their muscles in support of a new home for the Vikings.The clamor for a football stadium inevitably has breathed life into proposals to expand state- sanctioned gambling. Continue Reading
Although some attention around a new Minnesota Vikings stadium in the Twin Cities has shifted to a possible Minneapolis site, the team’s preferred location in Arden Hills should not be forgotten. And that’s with or without a stadium.
Talk has picked up regarding the possibility of a new casino in Block E in downtown Minneapolis.