The Vikings are Staying!

All right, so here's the deal. For the Vikings to be successful, they need to increase revenue. In order to increase revenue, they need a new stadium. The real question is, does Minnesota need a new stadium? Decidedly not. There are many studies out that professional sports are a mere pimple on the buttcheek that is a local economy, so I won't get into that.
That said, professional sports do add to a certain unity in a city that adds to an overall sense of pride and increases the civic well being and quality of life for a community, so I think it's not an altogether bad thing for municipalities to help with the construction of stadiums or arenas. For a team's ownership to actively shun the infrastructure that has already been established in a city for the purpose of  bleeding your fans dry is not cool in any way, which is what Zygi Wilf wanted to do, and why I oppose his efforts.
Make no mistake about it. The Vikings need a stadium to be successful. What Zygi Wilf was asking for was a a license to develop property around the facility (he is a real estate developer by trade, after all) and make millions by charging for parking. None of this is to the benefit of the state as a whole or for the collective good of the city. At least by building in Minneapolis, where the Governor would like the stadium built, the infrastructure is uncompromised and an expensive extension isn't needed.  It would be a central gathering point, ultimately for the state and the city, rather than a moneymaker for one asshole from New Jersey.
These are all facts that have been rehashed before. The fact that the state and the Vikings are still talking should show that they have some leverage on the matter. If the Vikings (and probably more realistically the NFL) wanted to leave the Twin Cities, they would be gone by now. Why would you put up with the same crap for a decade, only to not get what you truly want in the end? The Vikings will stay in Minnesota for a very long time, because there are teams that don't want to lose the rivalry. The NFL's TV partners don't want to lose a large, isolated market like the Twin Cities, especially when smaller markets, like Jacksonville, or less isolated markets, like San Diego could leave. And the NFL doesn't want to lose the elephant in the room, always having Los Angeles as a threat for obstinate cities who don't want to build new stadiums.
What I'm trying to get at s, the NFL and the Vikings need the Twin Cties, and the state should recognize that.  There's a reason that the Vikings told the NFL they aren't leaving.

Problems with the Vikings stadium plan

There has been much rejoicing lately in Vikingland with the prospect of a new stadium plan for a facility in Arden Hills. Of course, people are simply getting excited about an option. There is nothing in place yet, but since everything has looked so bleak, another new idea is enough to get people excited.
I am here to rain on parades. Here are some of the problems that come immediately to mind with this stadium plan (some are problems with Minnesota stadium plans in general)

- The state and county would be on the hook for 650 million dollars, which is more than Target Field cost in it's entirety (the government paid 392 million for the Twins stadium). Target Field was an unpopular project for public funding at the time (and still is in some circles), and THAT was built during relatively good financial times, and for a primary tenant that will in a bad season, use the facility 69 more times than the Vikings will in a best case scenario season.

- For the record, in the final season before the Twins moved out of the Metrodome, they drew 2.4 million fans. In 2009, when the Vikings went to the postseason and were able to play their entire season in the same stadium, they drew 510000, one fifth of what the Twins pulled in. If you had 30k more seats, that gets you to about 800k a season.

- There is the 300 million dollars of transportation improvements that need to be done as well. I don't know the area well, but apparently they need to make some more exits, build at least one of two more roads to the area, and you had better believe that those improvements aren't going to be paid for by the Vikings. Taxes for Ramsey County residents may not increase, but you had better believe the potholes in St Paul are going to take some time getting filled.

- It's on a superfund site.This is a big deal.

- Oh, it's not on any existing mass transit routes, so I guess you can either lump that in with the cost of transportation improvements, or more likely mark it as a loss for the state, because I bet the Vikings fans would be more receptive to having people drive to the stadium and pay them for parking. No money, then, to the state for train fare.

- Arden Hills is hardly on the way to anywhere, except maybe from Forest Lake or White Bear Lake. Fun fact.. I have lived in the Twin Cities my entire life and have never been to that part of the metro. I have to believe that this isn't that unusual a phenomenon.

So, enjoy your moment, Vikings fans. People are still trying, and that's a good, thing, but there needs to be a better idea.

So... are the Vikings really gone?

I made some jokes yesterday about the Metrodome's collapse, because it's kind of a funny story, but I think the full impact of what the stadium's roof failure means to the Vikings and their status as a Minnesota franchise is beginning to settle in to most Minnesotans and other interested parties across the country. This could be the end for the Vikings in Minnesota.
It doesn't really change anything, The Vikings want a new stadium. The state of Minnesota doesn't want to pay for it. The NFL and, in effect, the Vikings have mostly been in a holding pattern, not putting too much pressure on the people of Minnesota, because less popular teams in smaller markets, like the Bills, Jaguars or Raiders are more appealing teams to move to Los Angeles. The only thing that has likely changed is the timetable.
The Vikings can now say that the dome is demonstrably unsafe (even though the limitations of the stadium were already known, and the collapse has happened before, almost 30 years ago) and the city NEEDS to build them a stadium as soon as possible. If this happens, then good for the Vikings, they get what they have wanted all along... a free ride. If not, then the NFL and the Vikings can feel that they rightfully have good cause to move out of Minnesota. One way or another, the fate of the Vikings is likely to be sealed by the end of 2011. I can't imagine that the state will suddenly have an overwhelming change of heart... these are people that have never taken to bullying.
The thing is, if the dome had stayed intact, I don't think this is even a discussion. The NFL needs Minneapolis more than Minneapolis needs the Vikings. The Twin Cities are affluent and full of avid sports fans that pump a ton of money into the NFL. The Vikings certainly help the downtown economy, but are hardly a boon for the state financially. In fact, keeping the Metrodome functional should be a priority for the state, as the government owns and reaps the proceeds from the stadium, whereas any new football stadium would see profits go to the Vikings and the NFL.(The Metrodome is also a vital convention site, which an outdoor stadium would not be) Like it or not, tax revenue brought in by one Super Bowl would not account for the concession sales lost when the Vikings would move out of the Dome.
Building a new stadium would not be financially sound planning for the state of Minnesota, nor was it for the Twins (the Gophers are a different story... that is a state run institution), but the Twins were at least owned by Minnesota businessmen. I would expect the state to bend over backwards if it could for 3M, Target, General Mills or any of the other major corporations headquartered here. Zygi Wilf is from New Jersey. The players are from Oklahoma or Mississippi or anywhere BUT Minnesota. The only real tie to Minnesota is the fans, and if they aren't willing to pay for the stadium, then it's not going to get built.
I guess what I'm trying to say is, yes. I think the Vikings are really gone.

PS: This is one of the sadder posts I've ever written. My vitriol for the VIkings is based almost entirely on how the recent ownership, from Red McCombs to Zygi Wilf have been trying to hold the Twin Cities hostage. They don't REALLY want the team to stay here, if they did, they would have made some more concessions, offered up some money to build it themselves. They own the team to earn a profit, and no other reason. I feel bad for Viking fans who will be losing their team and for myself that I lost faith in the team and the NFL. I've never been more disappointed in the belief that I am right.

Nothing but bad news for Vikings fans

As many have realized, the only thing really going for me in the sports world is what isn't going well for the Vikings. First what's going on on the field, which isn't pretty. A lot of people thought that the Vikings would fall off this year, thanks to the fact that they were relying on a battered Brett Favre and no wide receivers to start the season. The precipitous drop has been more exhilarating because it's because of a complete failure on defense. Anyways, try to rankle Vikes fans even further by introducing them to the Playoff Machine on ESPN. It's almost impossible to get the Vikings in!
In somewhat more morose news for fans of those Vikings, there is this little nugget: the team has been approached by two separate groups from Los Angeles. Uh oh Vikings fans! They are getting serious this time about getting the heck out of town!
Now, I don't hate teams because of where they are or who roots for them or whatever, I just happen to find this group of owners, coaches and players to be extraordinarily detestable. It would be bad if the Vikings ACTUALLY left, except for the fact that I would be right, we wouldn't get blacked out from AFC games, and the NFC game wouldn't always feature some crappy NFC North team. But other than that, it would be bad.

Which coach will be the bigger name?

So, it's pretty much no doubt that the Vikings will be getting rid of Brad Childress this year. This would mean that, at the end of the football season, there will be no Minnesota football team with a head coach. Who will be the new coaches here in Minnesota? Which coach will make the biggest splash upon his hire?
Ever since Tim Brewster was let go, anyone with an opinion has said that the Gophers need to add a big name to help bolster their recruiting and become competitive once again in the Big Ten. Who could they possible ad? Larry Coker claimed interest during the last hiring process, but now Coker hasn't been working for 5 years and just took a job at Texas-San Antonio, so he wouldn't be the big name coach we would think. The hot name for the Gophers right now is Kevin Sumlin from Houston. He is an up and comer who has worked at Minnesota in the past as a WR/QB coach, but I'm not sure this is really all that big a name for Minnesotans who are already clamoring for Mike Leach.
The Vikings shouldn't have too much of a hard time adding that big name, but they haven't ever shown a tendency to make such waves. Consider their last three coaches were Brad Childress, Mike Tice and Denny Green, with Green the only one with prior head coaching experience. I still expect Zygi Wilf is in this for the money, not the wins. He needs a more marketable team with bigger names. I expect him to go with a defensive coach who will need a fully developed quarterback (because Wilf will want to bring in a big name QB after Favre leaves). I think this means the Vikings will take a good long look at Jon Gruden. If I am mistaken, and the Vikings will continue to avoid the big name coaches, they will more than likely seek to add Jack Del Rio or maybe even promote Leslie Frasier. Either way, I would be willing to guess that Carson Palmer will be coming to Minnesota in the not too distant future. Of course, all this assumes that the Vikings AREN'T headed to California, in which case the novelty of a new team in LA would lead to a pretty impressive gate and high value, low cost marketing, and they might be content to go with an offensive guy and draft a QB like Ryan Mallett.
Oh, who am I kidding. The best option is Ron Gardenhire. He might win Manager of the Year, and he doesn;t know a THING about baseball!

Randy Moss is different

In case you hadn't heard, the Vikings have once again tried (successfully) to steal Minnesota headlines just as the Twins are starting their postseason run. They have traded for wide receiver Randy Moss, a guy who played for them for half a dozen years to begin his career, before he became a hassle and was sent to Oakland. I don't really want to talk about what this means for the Vikings this year (I think it will help them tremendously, unfortunately.), but rather address the misconception that Randy Moss is just like other big name egotistical wideouts like Terrell Owens or Chad Ochocinco.
Owens and Ochocinco have something in common, besides their uniform. They are both attention seeking egotists who have become quite skilled at selling themselves. They bought into the system and are trying to exploit it by being ostentatious and self aggrandizing. Is it immature? Yes. But they do well, for the most part, to stay out of serious trouble, and frankly just want to be liked.
Randy Moss is different. He doesn't go out of his way to seek attention, and hasn't really had a big deal advertising campaign in his career. He is insular and has failed to buy into the system, preferring to do his own thing, even if that means smoking weed or being an unrelenting jackass to the press. Is it immature? Yes. And he doesn't care. Moss is in it for the money, but won't bend to anyone else's sensibilities, preferring to fly solo. Straight cash, homey.

If nothing else, I hope the folks of Los Angeles are really excited about the team they will be getting in 2 years.

Could this be the last of the Vikings?

With the season almost upon us (730!) There is a story just lurking in the background that people aren't addressing. There is a slight chance that this could be the last we see of the Vikings in Minnesota.
It's no secret to anyone who doesn't want to sit around in denial; Zygi Wilf would move the team at the drop of a hat, if it means more money for him. He is a business man, first and foremost, and has no affiliation or loyalty to Minnesota, aside from the fact that he owns the football team. He is in it to make money, not for Minnesota. Even if there is a new stadium built in Minnesota, the thought is that the state will require Wilf to chip in. There is a stadium already built in Los Angeles, waiting for a football team. Depending on how things go with the CBA, profit sharing could be completely revamped, meaning a team in a major urban center could stand to be much more profitable than one in a town like Minneapolis, especially if that team is on the hook for part of a new stadium.And the Dome lease will soon be at it's end.
Oh, sure, it would take a while to get everything taken care of, but after this season, it's looking more and more like there won't be a 2011 season, thanks to the increasing likelihood of a lockout. The CBA is being debated, which could be bad news for small market teams, and would more notably give the Vikings a two year window to plan their move to LA, without football. These two factors could mean we are experiencing the last season of the Vikings in Minnesota.
And yes, LA might be adding the Jaguars already, but why couldn't LA support another team? New York and the Bay area do. The Raiders and Rams left when there wasn't really anything different between a small and large market. And wouldn't the NFL want a more interesting team than the Jaguars in Los Angeles anyways?
This isn't something I necessarily want to happen. I don't like the Vikings, but it doesn't mean I wish they would go away. I'm just saying... enjoy this season, I guess.

The Vikings are jerks, and this is why I hate them

Since I moved to the new place, I started getting the daily paper. I love it. I always have something to read when nature calls, AND I can keep up with current events. Today's paper, the first I received, provided the first gem. It discussed the Metro Sports Commission's unveiling of a new stadium plan for the Vikings.
Guess what? The Wilfs, miffed that the Commission had the AUDACITY to ask the Vikings to extend their lease at the Metrodome, declined to attend or endorse this project. The stadium proposal, the most expensive version of two proposals, was 84 million dollars less expensive for the taxpayers of Minnesota than the one the Wilfs have proposed already. The Commission had an idea that would be more likely to be approved (because it's cheaper) and the Wilfs and the Vikings didn't bother to show up. What arrogant pricks.
This tells me one of three possible things.
A) The Vikings are dedicated to moving the team out of the state
B) The Vikings are dedicated to fleecing Minnesotans, even if they don't directly see the money
C) The ownership is petulant, arrogant and can't get over themselves enough to do what is best in any situation.
Frankly, I would like the Vikings a lot more if the Wilfs were not in charge. It's too bad, in away, that Minnesotans blindly love the Vikings as much as they do, because with all the warning signs of disingenuous owners, they still won't see it coming when the Vikings ship sails to another town.

A confluence of unfortunate events

Despite what anyone might say about the Jaguars and their dismal attendance figures, it turns out that the Vikings are the least valuable, lowest revenue team in the league (in 2007, apparently they jumped the Raiders in 2008!) Worse still, their debt to value ratio is among the highest in the league, unheard of for teams that haven't recently built a stadium. This is OK because of the team is a marketable franchise (Peterson, Favre, Allen), and with revenue sharing, the team still makes plenty of cash.
Of course, the collective bargaining agreement is set to expire after next season, which would mean after this season, there would be no salary cap, and more profitable teams will be able to spend more money. Additionally, the ability for the richer teams to sign players and make more money for themselves may compel them to do away with profit sharing which would, essentially, cut almost all of the revenue for a team like the Vikes.
Fortunately, the lease in the Metrodome for the Vikings takes the team through 2011 (and no further!), so they have a little time to figure out how to make money while another team, like the Jaguars or Rams, gets lured to Los Angeles. Of course, a proposed stadium, to be built by LA area businessman, is going to be ready in 2011. Just in time to welcome the Vikings, fleeing their expiring lease.
I'm not saying that the Vikings are going to move, but if things don't change after 2 seasons, they will be the perfect candidates to head out there. Not only will they be floundering in Minneapolis, but they will only be hampered by their lack of a stadium (given the star power on the team). If nothing changes, the only thing stopping the Vikings from being one of the most profitable teams in the league is.... their presence in Minnesota.
Of course, people may point at the other teams in the league that might move, like the Jaguars, who as stated, are more profitable by tens of millions than the Vikings, all while being less enticing to a prospective buyer. The Rams and Raiders have each been in Los Angeles and are currently in cities that have already lost teams. I don't foresee either side feeling the need to reexplore that adventure. Unfortunately, it all seems to keep coming back to the Vikings.
The way the state of Minnesota has held fast so far, opposed to building stadiums for the Twins or Gophers before knuckling under, I would like to see the people of the state win this one and make the wealthy owner plunk down the change to build the stadium. Unfortunately, in this case, it's increasingly apparent that the stadium is already being built. In Los Angeles.