The Los Angeles Vikings?

[Low Key]

http://www.startribune.com/510/story/945971.html


Lease expires in 2011

Lester has said repeatedly that the commission hopes to keep the Vikings in Minnesota for the next 30 years. The Vikings' lease at the Metrodome expires after the 2011 season. With no NFL team in Los Angeles, the nation's second-largest market, any team with an expiring lease becomes a candidate to move there.

The Metrodome cannot be razed until the Twins near completion of their new stadium, expected in time for the 2010 season. The Vikings say they need to complete their own construction plans long before that. They have begun talking with the University of Minnesota about playing in the new Gophers stadium after the Metrodome is demolished.

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The Vikings said Thursday that they will ask the Legislature this spring to approve their proposed stadium, which they plan to build where the Metrodome now stands. But the team has no apparent financial partner, has yet to complete a stadium blueprint and has not named the legislators needed to champion their cause. All of that could change within weeks. The Vikings' financial strategy is expected to become evident after tentative plans for a stadium with a retractable roof are unveiled Feb. 1, giving the team enough time to present plans to the Legislature.

"The governor's take is we're in a wait-and-see position," said Brian McClung, spokesman for Gov. Tim Pawlenty. "We need to see how they plan to finance this. We're not going to use general-fund dollars for these types of projects, which is the same position the governor had in regards to the Twins' stadium."

But the Vikings have reasons for guarded optimism: The Legislature last year approved new stadiums for the Twins and the University of Minnesota.

The Twins' legislation included a clause for negotiations for a Vikings stadium this year.

That clause asked the Vikings and their former partner, Anoka County, to negotiate an agreement and provide a report to the Legislature by this week. The Vikings and Anoka County officials, who had proposed building a $675 million stadium in Blaine, severed ties in November. But on Dec. 22, the Vikings sent a letter to new House Speaker Margaret Anderson Kelliher and new Senate Majority Leader Larry Pogemiller, asking that the letter serve as their report, opening the door for consideration at this year's session.

A Kelliher spokesperson said Thursday that Kelliher would have no comment on the letter, while Pogemiller's office said he was unavailable but might comment later.

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Minneapolis preferred

In the Vikings' letter, written by team vice president Lester Bagley on behalf of owner Zygi Wilf, the team said that its fans, sponsors and Twin Cities business leaders "have clearly communicated" their preference for keeping the Vikings in Minneapolis. "The Metrodome site provides for the most cost-efficient location in Minnesota," stated the letter, also sent to Pawlenty.

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No plan, no partner -- yet

"We're not ready to say we have a plan or partner," Bagley said Thursday. But he acknowledged that "dialogues will continue to take place with business and political leaders" and that the Vikings need cooperation "from state leaders at all levels."

The city of Minneapolis has said it has no money for a Vikings stadium. Hennepin County, which is helping to fund the Twins stadium, has said the same thing.

Lost when the Vikings' partnership with Anoka County ended was the $280 million the county pledged toward the stadium in Blaine. However, by building on the Metrodome site, the Vikings avoid costs for new roads, which the Minnesota Department of Transportation projected would cost up to $270 million in Blaine.

This week, representatives of the Vikings and the Metropolitan Sports Facilities Commission, which operates the Metrodome, spent two days in San Francisco reviewing blueprints by the urban planner hired to plot a Vikings stadium. The ROMA Group also is studying a potential revitalization of the east side of downtown Minneapolis.

"It won't be a finished product," Bill Lester, executive director of the commission, said Thursday of the ROMA study. "It's their version of what could happen."

[Low Key]

If the Vikes don't get a new stadium and move to LA, I'm gonna be pissed.

[Sparegeez]

That's tight. There would be 4 teams in Cali. Sorry Minnesota

[swangin and bangin]

fuck minesota, aint nothin there, LA needs a football team
ya dig 

[ecrazy]

fuck minesota, aint nothin there, LA needs a football team
ya dig 

[Teddy Roosevelt]

I wish ANY team would move to L.A. soon.

[Low Key]

fuck minesota, aint nothin there, LA needs a football team
ya dig 

In a 100 square mile area, the Twin Cities pretty much has as many people as LA. There is plenty of stuff to do here.

Yall already took our basketball team, yall don't need our football team too. How many lakes does LA have anyways? One? Give our damn name back at least.

[Teddy Roosevelt]

In a 100 square mile area, the Twin Cities pretty much has as many people as LA. There is plenty of stuff to do here.

That's very misleading to say primarily because Minnie/St. Paul is more dense then L.A. St. Paul and Minneapolis have about 700,000+ people combined compared to L.A.'s 3.6 million+ people. The entire metro area doesn't even have a higher population then the city of Los Angeles.

[Low Key]

In a 100 square mile area, the Twin Cities pretty much has as many people as LA. There is plenty of stuff to do here.

That's very misleading to say primarily because Minnie/St. Paul is more dense then L.A. St. Paul and Minneapolis have about 700,000+ people combined compared to L.A.'s 3.6 million+ people. The entire metro area doesn't even have a higher population then the city of Los Angeles.

The Twin Cities area includes the surrounding suburbs, and has a population of more than 3 million. The land division here is unique and if you factor in the "metro area", we are right up there with LA.

[Teddy Roosevelt]

In a 100 square mile area, the Twin Cities pretty much has as many people as LA. There is plenty of stuff to do here.

That's very misleading to say primarily because Minnie/St. Paul is more dense then L.A. St. Paul and Minneapolis have about 700,000+ people combined compared to L.A.'s 3.6 million+ people. The entire metro area doesn't even have a higher population then the city of Los Angeles.

The Twin Cities area includes the surrounding suburbs, and has a population of more than 3 million. The area here is unique and if you factor in the "metro area", we are right up there with LA.

The entire Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington Metropolitan Statistical Area has 3 million+ people. Not even the total population of the city of L.A.

[Low Key]

In a 100 square mile area, the Twin Cities pretty much has as many people as LA. There is plenty of stuff to do here.

That's very misleading to say primarily because Minnie/St. Paul is more dense then L.A. St. Paul and Minneapolis have about 700,000+ people combined compared to L.A.'s 3.6 million+ people. The entire metro area doesn't even have a higher population then the city of Los Angeles.

The Twin Cities area includes the surrounding suburbs, and has a population of more than 3 million. The area here is unique and if you factor in the "metro area", we are right up there with LA.

The entire Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington Metropolitan Statistical Area has 3 million+ people. Not even the total population of the city of L.A.

That is why I said about.

[I Am The Anton]

That would be fucking lame, California has enough damn teams.

[rik]

We need a team out here.

[I Am The Anton]

We need a team out here.

To say you need another professional sports team in California is just being greedy.

[ecrazy]

We need a team out here.

To say you need another professional sports team in California is just being greedy.

LA NEEDS A TEAM - Just because there are teams in California doesnt mean shit, LA as an area is bigger than most teams with a NFL team combined.