Vikings – Page 252 – David Shama's Minnesota Sports Headliners

Vikings Stadium Raises Bar for U

Posted on May 25, 2012May 25, 2012 by David Shama

Financial support for a new Vikings stadium has been approved by the Minnesota legislature and endorsement is expected today from the Minneapolis City Council. The new facility will generate significant additional revenues for the Vikings, state, city, and local businesses, while also creating jobs for Minnesotans.

There will be many who benefit — but don’t include the Gophers football program in the group of beneficiaries. Yes, the Gophers athletic department can rake in up to $300,000 per game when the Vikings use TCF Bank Stadium for home games during a portion of the construction period for their new facility.

But the Gophers would have been winners five times over if the Vikings didn’t earn approval for a new stadium and instead packed their bags for Los Angeles. If the Gophers had this football market to themselves they would have more fans, financial support and media scrutiny, creating much higher expectations and pressure to put a better team on the field year after year.

Until 1961 when the Vikings started play in the NFL, the Gophers were the only big time football attraction in the state. In the early years of the Vikings franchise the Gophers played in front of sellout crowds, drawing over 60,000 fans to Memorial Stadium. The new pro team in town struggled to attract 40,000 fans.

But by the mid-1960s the Gophers were losing fans and the Vikings were expanding their audience and revenues. With only one exception this has completely been a Vikings state ever since. Lou Holtz arrived as Gophers coach in 1984 and within two years his magic act had not only vastly improved the football product but season tickets were pushing toward 60,000.

The Vikings were losing football games and followers while the Gophers were soaring in popularity during the Holtz era. Vikings coach Les Steckel’s 3-13 season in 1984 prompted Bud Grant to come out of retirement to mastermind not only a better team, but jump-start interest in the franchise.

Holtz left Dinkytown after two years, whistling the Notre Dame fight song while making his way to South Bend where he would coach the Irish to renewed glory for 11 seasons including the 1988 national championship. The Gophers reverted to losing football games and customers—the profile the program has mostly kept in place for more than 40 years.

There are multiple reasons Gophers football has floundered for decades but the presence of the Vikings can be counted among them. The public pressure to have Gophers football be something special lessened with the arrival of the Vikings and has remained minimal compared to before they arrived.

Minnesota won 17 Big Ten football championships and six national championships prior to 1961. The Gophers have one Big Ten title since, sharing the 1967 championship with Purdue and Indiana.

Gophers administrators will maintain publicly, just like their predecessors, that the presence of the Vikings doesn’t have anything to do with their program. Baloney. On Vikings football Sundays the team is followed by millions of Minnesotans. Hundreds of thousands may not know the Gophers are playing on college football Saturdays.

With the spotlight on the Vikings and lousy football at the U, generations of potential Gophers fans have been lost. The pathetic student attendance at Gophers games has something to do with the Vikings, too. It wouldn’t be surprising if a poll of University of Minnesota students showed more of them are Vikings fans than Gophers followers.

This column isn’t about criticizing the Vikings or their fan base. I attended the team’s first game at Met Stadium in 1961 and now cover the team on a regular basis. I “get it” that the NFL is the most popular sport in America and there’s no expectation that will change in the future. The Vikings are one of the league’s stronger brands and the club’s passionate following includes season ticket holders who come to Minneapolis in large numbers from even outside the state.

The new Vikings stadium will be another challenge for the Gophers. The facility is likely to have a retractable roof so outdoor football is no longer an amenity claimed only by the Gophers at TCF Bank Stadium. The stadium, perhaps the best in college football, will within a few years no longer be the newest football facility in town.

That’s another edge for the Vikings who are in competition with the Gophers for ticket sales, suites, stadium signage, broadcast ratings and fees, sponsorships and merchandising. The best way the Gophers can respond is with a winning team under second-year coach Jerry Kill. He’s a promising leader who could create the best possible scenario for Minnesotans who want to see both the Vikings and Gophers thrive.

While the Vikings watch their new stadium being constructed, public interest in them will be enhanced. The Gophers need to finally become winners or else they will maintain their low profile. If the Gophers didn’t know it before this spring, the Vikings aren’t going away.

Comments Welcome

Final Four Likely for New Stadium

Posted on May 18, 2012May 21, 2012 by David Shama

With approval for a new Vikings stadium now finally in place, media speculation has started about attracting a Super Bowl to Minneapolis but it might be even easier to bring the NCAA’s Final Four to town.

“I’ll be amazed if we don’t get it (a Final Four),” Bill Lester told Sports Headliners. He is executive director of the Metropolitan Sports Facilities Commission and was part of the group that helped bring Final Fours to the Metrodome in 1992 and 2001.

The Gophers have been the college host for past Final Fours. “We know how to put it on,” said Joel Maturi, Gophers athletic director. “This is a great city (to visit).”

Lester said the Final Four sites are determined through 2016 but beyond then Minneapolis could be in the mix with a bid. “They (the NCAA) like competing cities,” he said.

The NCAA chooses only Final Four sites that are state-of-the-art domed stadiums. The new Vikings stadium will have either a fixed or retractable roof, and Lester said the seating configuration for the Final Four will be about 74,000.

A Super Bowl was held at the Metrodome in 1992. Although the NFL is known to reward new facilities with a Super Bowl, the league has most often selected warm weather cities as the site for games and sometimes in older stadiums. Earlier this year Indianapolis with a new stadium was the Super Bowl site, and Lester believes there’s definitely a possibility Minneapolis could host another Super Bowl within the next 10 years.

Maturi said the Big Ten Conference will be open to considering the new Vikings stadium for the league’s championship football game. That game is committed to Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis for the next four years, and Detroit has expressed interest in hosting the game at Ford Field, according to Maturi.

There’s been quiet talk about establishing an annual college football bowl game (“City of Lakes Bowl?”) in Minneapolis. Maturi acknowledged it could be a difficult sell to convince teams the city is a desirable destination in December but said this is an attractive area with lots to do.

Maturi believes a nonconference basketball game involving the Gophers and a national power might one day be booked for the new Vikings stadium. “I think it’s a natural,” he said. “We’ll see what happens.”

Meanwhile, Lester said he’s already hearing from potential users of the new stadium that is projected to open in 2016. Contacts range from inline skating organizers to amateur baseball teams looking for a protective environment. Such contacts are providing input on the design of the new stadium.

Comments Welcome

Worth Noting

Posted on May 18, 2012May 18, 2012 by David Shama

Maturi said the Gophers will receive a maximum of $300,000 from the Vikings for each of the NFL team’s games played at TCF Bank Stadium. The Gophers will charge rent and receive a share of certain revenues including concessions.

He also said seating expansion of TCF Bank Stadium will include but not necessarily be limited to adding bleacher seats in the west end zone. While the Vikings will be able to play games in the Metrodome during coming seasons, it’s already clear they will sometimes have to host games at TCF Bank Stadium while their new facility is constructed near the dome.

Monster Energy AMA Supercross has booked the Metrodome for April 13, 2013, returning to Minneapolis after a five year absence. The best attended AMA Supercross event at the dome was 60,049 in 1997.

Former Wolves All-Star Kevin Garnett, whose Celtics team leads the Sixers 2-1 in the NBA Eastern Conference playoffs, will be 36 tomorrow.

Ex-Vikings coach Bud Grant, still active with travelling, hunting and fishing, celebrates his 85^th birthday on Sunday.

The Vikings report to training camp for a 47^th consecutive year in Mankato on July 26 with the first team practice the next day. The Vikings will break camp on August 16.

Gophers football players will report for the coming season on August 2 and practice begins August 3. The Gophers open the schedule at UNLV on August 30.

Prep basketball authority Ken Lien emailed that Henry Ellenson, the Rice Lake, Wisconsin high school freshman, was offered a scholarship this week by the Gophers. His older brother, Wally, will be on scholarship as a college freshman this fall for the Gophers.

With this week’s announcement by major league baseball that the 2013 All-Star game will be awarded to the Mets, it sets up further speculation Target Field will host the 2014 game.

Twins rookie shortstop Brian Dozier has only one error in 11 games since his recall from Class AAA Rochester. He’s hitting .298 with two home runs and five RBI.

The Twins projected starting pitchers for the three game series against the Brewers that opens tonight in Milwaukee: Carl Pavano, 2-3, 5.14 ERA; Scott Diamond, 2-0, 0.00 ERA; Jason Marquis, 2-3, 6.68 ERA.

Close followers of the Twins organization will be surprised if super prospect Miguel Sano won’t be playing for Minnesota in two years. Sano, the 19-year-old Beloit Snappers third baseman, leads the Midwest League in home runs with 11.

Canterbury Park opens its live racing season tonight. The Shakopee track will have racing every weekend through Labor Day. Special promotions will include ostrich and camel racing on July 21.

Comments Welcome