Back to the Dome for the Vikings?

Posted at 7:12 PM on January 23, 2012 by Tim Nelson (8 Comments)
Filed under: Vikings stadium

Governor Mark Dayton has told the Vikings that if they want a stadium bill passed this year "its going to have to be the Metrodome."

That's according to spokeswoman Katharine Tinucci, responding to reports earlier in the day that a second Minneapolis site, near the Basilica of St. Mary, has been ruled out. She said the governor told Vikings owners by phone that their options had narrowed again.

The Vikings confirmed the conversation with Dayton today.

"Our ownership is extremely frustrated," team vice president Lester Bagley said of the situation.

And apparently, the Wilfs will get the chance to express that personally. Tinucci reports that Mark and Zygi Wilf are coming to Minnesota on Wednesday to talk about the stadium situation -- Metrodome or no.

Comments (8)

The Legislature has so much more to do than cater to the Vikings. Give them the Metrodome and let them do as they wish. No, we don't want to lose them, but the taxpayers should not have to pay for the luxury they prefer. OMO

Posted by Tommi Rocko | January 23, 2012 7:46 PM

Ever since giving the Metrodome to the greedy Wilfs was first mentioned, it struck me like a reasonable contribution of public funds. Let them invest their own money to bring it up to whatever standard of revenue-generation and luxury they want. If they can't do that on the $300 (or less) million they are prepared to invest, then something is wrong with them, not with Vikings fans or Minnesotans.

Posted by reggie | January 23, 2012 8:44 PM

OK, fine. GIVE the Metrodome to the Vikings. Let them redesign it to their own preference and on their own dime. Senator John Marty proposed legislation to do just that. He wanted to charge them $1. I'll contribute the dollar.
Then, let's hear equal concern and press coverage for publicly-assisted housing.

Posted by Joel Clemmer | January 23, 2012 9:41 PM

Send the Vikings on a plane to the moon. I am so sick of their whining and bullying..... 50 years of begging and choking. They are overpaid, underperforming corporate welfare queens who deserve nothing more than a boot their posteriors as we show them the door.

Posted by John Crampton | January 23, 2012 9:56 PM

Vikings should stay. We should find a way to cough up $300M with gambling. But they must realize the HUMP is the best location. Period

Posted by Dean Secot | January 23, 2012 10:02 PM

If you want the dome, then you will have to suffer through 3 or 4 years of watching the games in the UofM open-air stadium, with no beer or other alcoholic drinks, because there is no facilities there to sell them. The Vikings would have to be compensated for the money they lose there for that period of time!
It all comes back to the Arden Hills site being the best choice, because then the Vikes can play in the dome until it is finished! That is the only obvious solution, and they are ready to start breaking ground tomorrow!

Posted by Rick | January 24, 2012 1:59 AM

Minnesota has a proud history of achievement in medicine, science, education, the arts, politics,..we have made significant contributions to the nation, and the world, in these areas. .Yet we have spent a half-century groveling to these louts, insisting that it is only their presence that validates us....

And referring to them as a "legacy" , no less.

I don't know. I just don't get it.

Posted by audie | January 24, 2012 7:07 AM

No matter what happens, I'm already very disappointed/disgusted at how much time govt officials have wasted on obsessing over this. It is painfully obvious to me that subsidizing pro sports is not the role of govt.

Posted by Frank | January 24, 2012 6:11 PM

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