Are The Vikings Headed To Los Angeles?

[HarassedOffTheSite]

The Vikings have been following the steps outlined in the NFL's relocation policy for two years now. It requires a team to “diligently engage in good faith efforts” to “obtain a satisfactory resolution of its stadium needs” before informing the league of the existence of a “stalemate.” After a considerable amount of negotiations they apparently had a gentleman's agreement in place between the team, Minnesota Governor Mark Dayton, Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak, and legislative leaders calls for a $975 million facility, which would be built with $398 million from the state, $150 million from Minneapolis, and $427 million from the Vikings.

But "legislative leaders" have killed it in conference (having researched and documented the Colts departure from Baltimore, it would be interesting to know if it were liberal politicians that have hindered it. They did in Baltimore. There was an amendment to Baltimore's city charter that made it impossible to use public money to build a new stadium. Minneapolis has something a little more palatable. Their city charter, requires a vote by the citizens of Minneapolis before any contribution in excess of $10 million can be approved.) The first politicians to sound off since the recent failure is Senator Scott Dibble..........and he is a liberal. That is a decent indication that it is indeed liberals who are hindering the process. The same way they did in Baltimore and the same way some tried to in Indianapolis prior to the Luke getting built.

Anyway, in response to the legislative failure and the possibility of continuing to negotiate into next year the Vikings said point blank that “there is no next year”. So it seems that if this thing does not get done in this legislative session, the Vikings may well be moving on (probably as a result of the time & effort required to movie the team to L.A starts now).

Yesterday the league stepped in. Which would indicate that the Vikings are getting close to the end of their rope and either already have or are close to informing the league that they have come to a stalemate.

The remarks by the Commissioner yesterday indicate a very serious situation...and more than likely a last minute good faith push by the league to get this thing done. I wonder if the "politicians" and more importantly, the people of Minnesota understand just how close they are to losing their NFL franchise.

The only thing left is for the Vikings to tell the league that they intend to move and then the owners vote on it (which the Vikings would no doubt win because they have followed league rules to the letter and the NFL wants back into the Los Angeles market anyway).

Word this morning is that Vikings owner Zygi Wilf's plane is in Southern California...not necessarily earth shattering because if I had his kind of bank, my plane would probably be in Southern California 6 months out of the year...but coming so close on the heels of the legislative failure in Minnesota, it could well signal that Wilf is beginning the early groundwork needed to make the move or sell to someone wanting to move the team to L.A. Any good businessman would.

It was dimwitted politicians serving an incompetent ideology (and not the people) that lost the Colts for the City of Baltimore. And IMMEDIATELY after doing so, reversed course 180 degrees. By then of course it was too late. But they ended up building a brand new stadium anyway...and had they done so from the beginning they never would've lost the Colts to a city that had no problem building one (just like Los Angeles doesn't).

Will the politicians of Minnesota suffer as a result of the exact same incompetence?

[21isSuperman]

This franchise has really gone downhill. A few years ago, they were in the NFC Championship game. Now, they are picking 3rd overall and there are talks of relocation

[Playoffs2013]

The Vikings have been following the steps outlined in the NFL's relocation policy for two years now. It requires a team to “diligently engage in good faith efforts” to “obtain a satisfactory resolution of its stadium needs” before informing the league of the existence of a “stalemate.” After a considerable amount of negotiations they apparently had a gentleman's agreement in place between the team, Minnesota Governor Mark Dayton, Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak, and legislative leaders calls for a $975 million facility, which would be built with $398 million from the state, $150 million from Minneapolis, and $427 million from the Vikings.

But "legislative leaders" have killed it in conference (having researched and documented the Colts departure from Baltimore, it would be interesting to know if it were liberal politicians that have hindered it. They did in Baltimore. There was an amendment to Baltimore's city charter that made it impossible to use public money to build a new stadium. Minneapolis has something a little more palatable. Their city charter, requires a vote by the citizens of Minneapolis before any contribution in excess of $10 million can be approved.) The first politicians to sound off since the recent failure is Senator Scott Dibble..........and he is a liberal. That is a decent indication that it is indeed liberals who are hindering the process. The same way they did in Baltimore and the same way some tried to in Indianapolis prior to the Luke getting built.

Anyway, in response to the legislative failure and the possibility of continuing to negotiate into next year the Vikings said point blank that “there is no next year”. So it seems that if this thing does not get done in this legislative session, the Vikings may well be moving on (probably as a result of the time & effort required to movie the team to L.A starts now).

Yesterday the league stepped in. Which would indicate that the Vikings are getting close to the end of their rope and either already have or are close to informing the league that they have come to a stalemate.

The remarks by the Commissioner yesterday indicate a very serious situation...and more than likely a last minute good faith push by the league to get this thing done. I wonder if the "politicians" and more importantly, the people of Minnesota understand just how close they are to losing their NFL franchise.

The only thing left is for the Vikings to tell the league that they intend to move and then the owners vote on it (which the Vikings would no doubt win because they have followed league rules to the letter and the NFL wants back into the Los Angeles market anyway).

Word this morning is that Vikings owner Zygi Wilf's plane is in Southern California...not necessarily earth shattering because if I had his kind of bank, my plane would probably be in Southern California 6 months out of the year...but coming so close on the heels of the legislative failure in Minnesota, it could well signal that Wilf is beginning the early groundwork needed to make the move or sell to someone wanting to move the team to L.A. Any good businessman would.

It was dimwitted politicians serving an incompetent ideology (and not the people) that lost the Colts for the City of Baltimore. And IMMEDIATELY after doing so, reversed course 180 degrees. By then of course it was too late. But they ended up building a brand new stadium anyway...and had they done so from the beginning they never would've lost the Colts to a city that had no problem building one (just like Los Angeles doesn't).

Will the politicians of Minnesota suffer as a result of the exact same incompetence?

most likely it will be a race who can get there first (jax, minny, san diego, buffalo)

[subvet]

They may be but I'd hate losing them from the division with the Bears, Lions, and Packers. A very storied division and would be less without the Vikings....LA needs to wait and get it's own expansion team.

[vinatierifan4]

This franchise has really gone downhill. A few years ago, they were in the NFC Championship game. Now, they are picking 3rd overall and there are talks of relocation

a few years ago we were in the superbowl, now we have number one overall pick

[21isSuperman]

a few years ago we were in the superbowl, now we have number one overall pick

Yeah, but they're talking about relocating the entire franchise. That's a bigger change than getting the #1 overall pick. Regardless, I think we can both agree that the NFL stands for Not For Long

[shakedownstreet]

indy, new york, and detroit are three good indicators of why it pays to build stadiums. every city that loses a franchise winds up deeply regretting it

[HungarianColtsFan]

Minnesota senate approved bill for building stadium just hours after Goodell was there:

http://espn.go.com/n...ium-minneapolis

So Vikings needn't call Irsay for Mayflower's phone number.

[IndyTrav]

Is there even a stadium in LA? Or will it also need to be built?

[ruksak]

Is there even a stadium in LA? Or will it also need to be built?

Not sure. I know California is broke. Maybe their ridiculous population of illegal immigrants will help pay for a new stadium?

[bahhummbug]

Is there even a stadium in LA? Or will it also need to be built?

Suppose to be ready by 2014 but having trouble getting it even started.

[LJpalmbeacher2]

most likely it will be a race who can get there first (jax, minny, san diego, buffalo)

I think Buffalo has its eye on Canada.

[Andy]

I think Buffalo has its eye on Canada.

Canada is a terrible football market. In basketball, TOR has a terrible fan base and is not a good city for basketball. That would probably be the same case for football. That would be a terrible move for the NFL.

[Playoffs2013]

I think Buffalo has its eye on Canada.

I've heard both but buffalo isn't big on Canada' because of the limited # of fans just look at the stadium in canada during the games

1/2 empty

[subvet]

I think Buffalo has its eye on Canada.

Oh wow, I thought Buffalo WAS in Canada..... :bills:

[HarassedOffTheSite]

Minnesota senate approved bill for building stadium just hours after Goodell was there

No, the senate did not. A committee on the senate side approved...the full senate has not voted.

Regardless, this was expected per the gentleman's agreement. The original problem that has not been corrected is the House side of the legislature not only did not pass it...they did not vote...it did not make it out of committee.

[HarassedOffTheSite]

Is there even a stadium in LA? Or will it also need to be built?

No. A stadium there will need to be built. Two are actually on the drawing board and a big difference is that both Stadium proposals are privately financed.

[Gavin]

How long have the Vikings been their? a long time I think

[subvet]

They go back to the old AFL days when Lamar Hunt tried to get a franchise there and the NFL reversed an earlier decision not to expand and formed teams inMinnesota and in Dallas where Lamar was setting up teams.

[Tony Sullivan]

Canada is a terrible football market. In basketball, TOR has a terrible fan base and is not a good city for basketball. That would probably be the same case for football. That would be a terrible move for the NFL.

That anecdotal evidence is crap. What are you even basing this on? That is not true at all. If you put a team that is somewhat good in the GTA (Greater Toronto Area), Canadians will pump money into it. The Raptors sold out in the Vince Carter and Chris Bosh days. Even besides that Toronto is still a better city for basketball than almost half the rest of the NBA.

Have you also forgotten that Canada supports its own football league the CFL. Laugh if you want but its been around longer than the NFL and is still making money. It's the best place for football after the NFL. (Unless you count the top NCAA teams facing off, but the majority of their games usually include schools that don't matter)

Currently the Bills have 15 000 Canadians that cross the border just to attend the games anyways, and their yearly games in Toronto have been a huge success.

Also, if you know your geography and economics, you'd realize that the GTA and the Waterloo/Hamilton area is one of the richest and most economically stable regions in the world, and pumps out more than 20% of Canada's total GDP.

The problem isn't so much can Canada support a team, it has more to due with waiting for teams to collapse or the NFL to add more teams. Also, Buffalo would lose those 15 000 seats and that would probably cripple them which the NFL would not want.

Toronto is probably number 2 on the NFLs list for desirable team locations right after LA, but it will probably have to be Buffalo that goes there.

[RGIII]

Laugh if you want but its been around longer than the NFL and is still making money.

The NFL has the CFL beat by at least 35 years.

[Tony Sullivan]

The NFL has the CFL beat by at least 35 years.

You learn something new every day lol, I didn't think it was called NFL until 1970 but I was mistaken.