I don’t have a link at the moment, but it looks like the Minnesota Vikings ownership is not getting a lot of love from Minnesota politicians at the moment. Public funding for a new stadium was shot down within the past couple of days.
I recall one of the lines I read was from a city council member who asked the Vikings representatives something to the effect “In these tough economic times, why should we be asking the taxpayers to give money to a billionaire?” I think that hits the nail dead in the head.
Now, when I read stuff like this, frankly it pisses me off a bit. Mainly for the fact that it’s so blind to the realities of the situation. See the above paragraph.
If owners are willing to exploit football fans to this degree, then the only thing that will set them back in line is for fans to tell them to go bilk some other city. Because the owners have made it clear that they’re more than happy to stay in town while everyone ponies up big bucks for their seat, when it comes time to give a little back they find out it’s a one-way street.
I enjoy football as much as anyone, but I’ve never liked the idea of taxpayer funded stadiums and facilities. NFL owners are billionaires. They can afford to spend some of it to make their own facilities.
3 replies on “Good for Minnesota”
I agree with you on your point…but I think that your interpretation of the situation is off base. The reason that the NFL and the Vikings are pushing this is that they NEED a resolution. If they do not get a yes or a no from the Minnesota legislature, they need to find a new place to play football and conduct business. The legislature continues to shuffle their feet, because none of these politicians want to be responsible for losing the team, and their solution, instead of manning up and just saying that they can’t afford it, is to stick their head in the sand and hope that divine intervention will save them.
Frankly, I think the Vikings and the NFL have been more than cordial in their attempts to wait this situation out, considering they could have moved to LA six years ago, but they did not. They have given Minnesota and its politicians more than ample time to determine if a stadium bill is possible, and it clearly is not. So all the NFL and the Vikings would like, is for the politicians to stand up and say that definitively.
I think it is a major problem that the political agenda in Minnesota is capable of holding up the system and preventing the ownership of the Vikings from realizing the fruits of their investment. They have tugged on the heartstrings long enough and reaped the benefits of having an NFL team that they no longer deserve. Ownership has stood by and done everything they can to make the situation work, but the ship has sailed. Honestly, and I can’t believe that I am sticking up for a billionaire…but then again when the option is a politician or a billionaire I guess the decision is not so hard…but in my opinion the NFL and the Vikings are more than just in asking for a decision from the politicians on this subject.
Minnesota has a history with this sort of thing, and apparently, it is going to play out the exact same way. Just that the politicians have used the NFL’s desire to always be fan friendly against them to perfection. Now the NFL is ready to say screw it, it is put up or shut up time. Eventually, just like the union did in the lockout, the politicians will shut up.
I certainly don’t know all the details, but if the problem is that there isn’t enough taxpayer money to fund the stadium, then I have little sympathy for the Vikings. If the problem is as you say with respect to the politicians, then it’s hard to have sympathy for them either.
Given the way the Vikings have conducted their personnel moves over the past few years, I’d be a little surprised to find out they’re particularly competent in other business areas as well.
I also don’t buy the “it’s an honor and a privilege to host an NFL team” line of thought. There’s a serious argument that they’re a pain in the ass. If nothing else, NFL teams bring their fair share of baggage to the table, like any other business entity.
All true again, especially the last line, and I did not mean to imply that at all. My point is simply that the Vikings and the people of Minnesota have a business deal. The Vikings have no problem living up to their end of the deal, or moving on if the people of Minnesota no longer want the deal. The PROBLEM is that the Vikings have asked repeatedly, and over several years, to have an answer to whether Minnesota would like to continue the deal, and they continue to dodge the question politically. They are doing this because the people would like to keep the team, but they can’t afford it and everyone knows it. So the politicians are left to be the ones that have to make the unpopular, but necessary decision. They are dodging it like champions, most likely because they fear for their ability to get reelected.
All I am saying, in complete agreement with the Vikings and the NFL, is sh&t or get off the pot, you have had long enough to realize that this business venture is no longer in your interests. No hard feelings, the community can’t sustain the franchise anymore, it is cool, it has happened before and will happen again. Just tell the Vikings so that they can do what is necessary to make sure that they can continue their business practices, as is their right.
Conversely to your last comment, the money and jobs that can come from hosting an NFL team, along with all the other intrinsic and extrinsic benefits of having a team, FAR outweigh the negatives. Even places like Detroit see vast benefits from having an NFL franchise…do you think anyone would know that Green Bay exists without the Packers? Professional sports weaves its way through so much of the fabric of host cities, it is amazing the overall benefit.
All that being said, it is not a privilege, it is a business decision for that community and its leadership. If the business no longer adds up, then move on, it is okay. The Vikings will be find elsewhere, but to expect an infinite grace period from the organization so that you can figure out a way to make an unpopular decision and still look good while you do it…the world does not work that way.