Vikings Stadium: The Aftermath

English: Metrodome with new MOA signage (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Amid much fanfare and heckling inside the State Capitol Rotunda, Minnesota Governor Mark Dayton signed a bill into law Monday authorizing construction for a new Vikings football stadium in downtown Minneapolis.

This is the most significant development to come out of the recently-concluded legislative session.  Which isn't all that difficult to conclude, since the GOP-controlled House and Senate passed the buck on important issues such as same sex marriage and voter ID to the voters themselves this November.  But then again, the stadium sucked all the attention from everything else this session.

What could mess things up is a vote by the Minneapolis city council at their next meeting.  It could be close, with Mayor R.T. Rybak's supporters lined up against those who felt the stadium deal violated city regulations, and that there should be a referendum on this.

Assuming all systems are go, construction should commence a year from now, to be concluded by the 2016 NFL season.  Here are some other issues the new stadium has created:

• The new stadium will have a roof, but the Vikings are considering making it retractable, which is something they have to pay extra for.  That would make them eligible for tractor pulls, concerts, and maybe a Super Bowl or a men's basketball Final Four.
• Speaking of Super Bowls, they'd like to host one as early as 2017.  Which is kind of tight, considering the timeline for construction.  Wouldn't 2018 or '19 be more doable?
• Zygi Wilf, the Vikings' owner, wants to bring a Major League Soccer franchise to the new stadium.  Currently there are 19 teams across North America, most of them playing in venues made expressly for soccer.  Only Seattle and New England play in stadiums also occupied by NFL teams.
• Correcting an earlier post, the St. Paul Saints would not get the money for their own ball park from the stadium bill, so they'll have to look elsewhere.
• The University of Minnesota has agreed to let the Vikings use TCF Bank Stadium for a season or two, once the Metrodome is torn down.  The Vikings would pay for extra seats, and for winterizing the football field.  And beer can now be sold, as long as it isn't in the stands.
• The Star Tribune newspaper, which has been cheerleading for the new stadium in its reporting and in its editorials, will be getting a nice chunk of change for some of that property they own next to the Dome should they ever decide to sell.
• With the Twins' move to Target Field in 2010, the Twin Cities have become the fourth metropolitan area whose NFL, NBA, MLB and NHL teams all have their own place to play.  The others are Phoenix, Detroit and Miami.

Oh, and one more thing.  Recent reports have pointed out that new stadiums do not necessarily coincide with Super Bowl appearances for the NFL teams.  Heck, the Vikings have yet to appear in the Big Game since moving into the Metrodome thirty years ago.  They had their biggest successes at tiny little Metropolitan Stadium in Bloomington.  Does Green Bay know something we don't?