Vikings Stadium Drive Needs More Passion, Leadership
Odds are “50-50” right now that the Vikings franchise will eventually
relocate, and “75-25” it will if a stadium plan doesn’t develop in the
2010 legislative session. That’s the opinion of a source close to the
stadium situation who requested that his name not be used.
Another knowledgeable source offered a not so dire prediction. Although
the Vikings’ lease at the Metrodome expires after the 2011 season and
the team is free to choose a new city, that expiration just represents a
“date,” according to the source who indicated the franchise could still
be sorting its options in 2012 and beyond.
What’s certain is Vikings fans have reasons to be concerned and there
are various aspects of this story to watch in the months ahead. For
years franchise leaders have been pushing for a new stadium but the
problem is government officials, business leaders and many fans aren’t
engaged with the same passion.
That needs to change if the Vikings are to have a new stadium that will
increase revenues and franchise values. The September issue of
Forbes magazine, reporting on all NFL franchises, listed the Vikings
as second lowest in revenues ($209 million in 2008) and franchise value
($835 million). Some NFL owners are reportedly frustrated with low
revenue teams, and supporting those franchises more through league
revenue sharing than they think is fair.
No city, county or state plan is presently being advanced for funding a
new stadium that likely projects to a cost of nearly $1 billion. A
public-private funding partnership might see the cost divided up at $750
million and $250 million respectively. The Vikings, who should and will
be engaged with funding, rightfully advocate that such a stadium should
be located on the Metrodome site, taking advantage of the infrastructure
already there. The Metropolitan Sports Facilities Commission supports a
retractable roof facility that can serve the area with various events
other than pro football including high school games and other community
activities similar to how the Metrodome has been used, only better.
But in the best of times elected officials are hesitant to approve
stadiums and now we’re living through an era of economic hardship for
the citizenry, business and government. Governor
Tim Pawlenty
hasn’t made a new Vikings stadium a priority and neither have other
elected officials on various levels of government.
Business leaders who could benefit directly from a new stadium in the
surrounding area and others who have a stake in development to keep
downtown a vibrant city core haven’t been visible on the stadium issue,
either. Their economic muscle could be listened to on this issue, and
important, too, is the willingness of corporations to invest monies into
the stadium.
What does that mean? Naming rights for the stadium will be a sizeable
contributor to help pay for the facility. So will corporate
sponsorships and advertising in the stadium. Also potentially
generating millions of dollars are personal seat licenses allowing
ownership of specific seats in the new stadium.
In a new stadium the sale of personal seat licenses is a means for the
public to support a stadium, too. Between corporations and fans, up to
50,000 seats might be sold through personal seat licensing, generating
large one time fees and annual monies through the sale of tickets for
those seats.
The Vikings are asking the public to be proactive on the stadium issue
by contacting elected officials and encouraging them to support a
stadium solution in 2010. Fans can also join Minnesota Momentum, a
coalition of stadium supporters (more at
www.minnesotamomentum.com). More engagement by public leaders and
the general public is needed including debating the specifics of a
funding plan. All interests should be involved and listened to.
Zygi Wilf’s
ownership group has said it won’t move the franchise. Multiple sources
believe, though, that Wilf might one day be willing to sell and another
group could prefer a home other than Minnesota. It’s believed that the
Wilf ownership could sell the franchise for $250 million (or more) than
the original purchase price of $600 million.
Viable markets and stadiums to house NFL teams, though, are scarce. The
NFL shouldn’t repeat the mistake of going into a small market like
Jacksonville where corporate support is minimal. Another existing NFL
town, Buffalo, has similar problems and will play a regular season game
later this year in Toronto as part of apparently a multi-year test to
try out Canada as a new home.
While the Bills may look north, the Vikings, Jaguars, Chargers, 49ers, Raiders
and Rams have all had their names associated with a move to Southern
California. Real estate developer Ed Roski has been trying to
clear legal hurdles to move forward on a proposed $800 million stadium
in suburban Los Angles.
A stated goal is to have a commitment by an NFL team in 2010. Sources
speculate that a new stadium in City of Industry, California might be
home to two NFL teams, not one. That model makes building and
maintaining the stadium a smarter financial move.
Prevailing thought is the team or teams in Industry will be existing
franchises because the 32 NFL owners don’t want to dilute their rich TV
revenue pie any further by adding more teams. The owners are also
likely to share in perhaps $10 million or so each from a relocation fee
of $300 million or more that a team will pay. You can do the math and
see how that benefits team owners if two teams pay relocation fees to
move.
Maybe the odds of the Vikings relocating to Los Angeles are twice what
we thought. At this point there are lot more questions than answers, but
here’s an interesting closer: the stadium drawing of the new facility in
Industry has purple seats.
