I had lunch today with one of my old lobbying buddies. He is not lobbying on this issue, but told me support is dwindling. It sounds like Speaker Zellers need some phone calls on this issue. Lets get the phones ringing at the Capitol.

Can someone explain to me the urgency on it? As far as I can tell, no one from the Vikings has actually threatened to move and the primary prospective destination everyone talks about (LA) is not exactly actively courting the franchise.

From what I read, the Vikings have done everything that has been requested of them and they're still no forward momentum.

http://www.startribune.com/politics/statelocal/148022185.html

The National Football League said Wednesday the Minnesota Vikings' chances of getting public money for a new stadium appears to have reached a stalemate, and that the league's commissioner is ready to tell Gov. Mark Dayton which other cities were willing to have the team.

Sad thing is, if the Vikings do leave, I think this makes MSP that much more attractive for a MLS franchise.

that's what I was thinking. I can't imagine Minnesota without the Vikings, but I couldn't imagine Seattle without the Sonics either...

The urgency is that the Vikings are no longer under the their lease, which requires them to play in the Dome. I do think the NFL owners would not approve a move at this point, and there is some indication they will award an expansion franchise to LA. However, I really do not see a new stadium being built if the NFL leaves town.

I am bitter about this issue. The entire state legislature is up for re-election and nobody has the guts to do anything. What a bunch of jerks--all 201 of them!!!

I think Jacksonville or St Louis are at just as much risk of moving as Minnesota is.

http://minnesota.publicradio.org/collect...m_potpour.shtml

"There is no next year," Bagley said. "We were told by the last governor in 2006 when the Twins bill and the Gophers bill were moving forward that the Vikings were going to have to stand down, we'll come back next year. That was six years ago. After 10 plus years and an expired lease, we need to get this issue moving, get it done this year. Get it to the floor, let all 201, because there is support to get it to the floor, and let all the legislators get a shot at it because there is support in this building to get this done this year."

Except for that one minor detail. Actually finding an owner with the sort of money that can pony up 70-90 mill for a franchise fee and share the cost of a new SSS in a town that will still be competing against the NBA, WNBA, NHL, MLB, Saints, Swarm and a major D1 school and their sports programs.

It would be a bit ironic if they did move to LA and took the MN to MLS hopes with them, because the people that have offered them (and everybody else) the land to build a stadium in LA is none other than MLS's own AEG Entertainment.

http://aegworldwide.com/facilities/facilities

To me the Vikings are the 800 pound elephant in the room. If they go it opens up a huge slot in local sports news. No need to worry about competing against the media for WNBA, Saints, and Swarm for coverage. Even the Gophers aren't much competition.

I would think the Vikings leaving would actually make ownership of a team more appealing since the backlash against the NFL would be enormous. (Of course, Zygi couldn't be the owner of the MLS team then for obvious reasons).