The additional revenue was there with the Viking situation.

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Where were they going to go? The administration was "Minnesota nice" in negotiations with the Vikings. They left millions on the table and now they're trying to stiff current and long time season ticket holders.
 

That Vikings money is for a very limited time. At the absolute best, stiffer negotiations would have delayed these ticket price increases for like 2 years.

Call me crazy, but I don't think that tugging on Zygi's balls harder would have kept ticket prices constant for years to come.
 

I don't know if that money is even going into the athletic department.
 


Where were they going to go? The administration was "Minnesota nice" in negotiations with the Vikings. They left millions on the table and now they're trying to stiff current and long time season ticket holders.

Yeah, that would have went over well at the Capitol, where the U gets millions in funding. The governor got involved in student ticket bundling...how do you think it would have gone over if we tried to fleece the Vikings??
 


Yeah, that would have went over well at the Capitol, where the U gets millions in funding. The governor got involved in student ticket bundling...how do you think it would have gone over if we tried to fleece the Vikings??

It's called supply and demand. The Legislature had nothing to do with this. The Vikings were the sacrificial lamb and we let them off the spit
 

It's called supply and demand. The Legislature had nothing to do with this. The Vikings were the sacrificial lamb and we let them off the spit

If they would have tried to fleece the Vikings like you wanted them to....yes, the legislature/Governor would have gotten involved. Headlines in the StarTrib and PP reading 'U trying to bully Vikings' would not have gone well in terms of PR or when the U walks into the Capitol asking for tens of millions for funding....horrible idea. Should the legislature have gotten involved in the ticket bundling...nope, but they did. If you think they'd just let the U tell the Vikings 'pony up or f off', you're mistaken. Also, the U got a pretty good deal, IMO.
 

If they would have tried to fleece the Vikings like you wanted them to....yes, the legislature/Governor would have gotten involved. Headlines in the StarTrib and PP reading 'U trying to bully Vikings' would not have gone well in terms of PR or when the U walks into the Capitol asking for tens of millions for funding....horrible idea. Should the legislature have gotten involved in the ticket bundling...nope, but they did. If you think they'd just let the U tell the Vikings 'pony up or f off', you're mistaken. Also, the U got a pretty good deal, IMO.
We agree to disagree.
 

If they would have tried to fleece the Vikings like you wanted them to....yes, the legislature/Governor would have gotten involved. Headlines in the StarTrib and PP reading 'U trying to bully Vikings' would not have gone well in terms of PR or when the U walks into the Capitol asking for tens of millions for funding....horrible idea. Should the legislature have gotten involved in the ticket bundling...nope, but they did. If you think they'd just let the U tell the Vikings 'pony up or f off', you're mistaken. Also, the U got a pretty good deal, IMO.

+19
 




19...The Vikings are not a land grant institution, or are not internally funded by the State.

I agree 100% but when did you expect the state leg to act the way they should?

Way many more fans of the Vikings than fans of logic. The legislators aren't leaders, they're voter hounds.

Edit: Actually the Vikings are state funded, if you consider a half a Billion dollars in taxpayer money for their playground. I'm a Viking fan but the funding drives me crazy.
 

I'm with you Ruppert. News of Zygi's trial broke before the negotiations with the U were completed. We also have the electronic tabs fiasco that was being criticized by then. Seriously doubt Dayton was going any further out on the limb supporting the stadium. There were also Republicans attacking the deal back then. I know my idiot representative was and it's about the only thing I've ever agreed on with him. Um, we had an election coming up. No way was anyone in St. Paul stepping up to stop the University from "bullying" the Vikings.
 

Although it often happens, the practice of trying to screw someone or an entity over in business dealings rarely reaps long term benefits. For that matter the hatred or dislike that some Gopher fans have for the Vikings often gets projected in situations like this on to the U of M and the athletic department, as if they should and do hate the Vikings as well. While negotations were occasionally tense, the two organizations have a basically amicable relationship. For that matter should the U of M ever need something from the Vikings (use of the new stadium should The Bank somehow get damaged, use of Winter Park in the event the present Gopher practice facility must be torn down to make way for a new one, certain jointly beneficial marketing agreements, etc...), coming off like the heavy now would not do anyone favors. The Vikes also pumped money into The Bank for improvements that the Gophers will benefit from long term. The "put the Vikings through the ringer" stance is pretty naive given the big picture.
 



Probably where they would have gone if a shared stadium were built on the Metrodome site. Vikings fans hated this option mostly because there is no train to . . .

grabbed the wrong quote = sorry
 

Although it often happens, the practice of trying to screw someone or an entity over in business dealings rarely reaps long term benefits. For that matter the hatred or dislike that some Gopher fans have for the Vikings often gets projected in situations like this on to the U of M and the athletic department, as if they should and do hate the Vikings as well. While negotations were occasionally tense, the two organizations have a basically amicable relationship. For that matter should the U of M ever need something from the Vikings (use of the new stadium should The Bank somehow get damaged, use of Winter Park in the event the present Gopher practice facility must be torn down to make way for a new one, certain jointly beneficial marketing agreements, etc...), coming off like the heavy now would not do anyone favors. The Vikes also pumped money into The Bank for improvements that the Gophers will benefit from long term. The "put the Vikings through the ringer" stance is pretty naive given the big picture.

True except the bold. The Vikings would have no say in the Gophers using the stadium, other than on the days they Vikings play games. The Vikings don't own the stadium.
 


The Vikings would have had an all out anti-U PR campaign going if the U had played major hardball in the negotiations. It would not have sat well at the Legislature and with the Governor if the U had used a publicly funded stadium to extort more funds from the Vikings while they waited for another publicly funded stadium to be built. The U did the smart thing and got a fair price for the use of the facility.
 

The Vikings would have had an all out anti-U PR campaign going if the U had played major hardball in the negotiations. It would not have sat well at the Legislature and with the Governor if the U had used a publicly funded stadium to extort more funds from the Vikings while they waited for another publicly funded stadium to be built. The U did the smart thing and got a fair price for the use of the facility.
An anti U/PR campaign against the U? I just spit my coffee up!
 

An anti U/PR campaign against the U? I just spit my coffee up!

Your reply makes absolutely zero sense ruppert. Care to elaborate?

The Vikings are pretty good at marketing and they could sell the public that the U was being greedy with its taxpayer-funded stadium and delaying/increasing the price of the Vikings stadium. This is not complicated stuff.
 


The "additional revenue" is needed to pay the athletes at the U. All 750 of them. That was not known at the time. This thread has no legs, other tan the rant factor.
 

Some yahoos on here are actually attempting to validate the ridiculous logic in this season ticket rant post? Wow. Smh
 

The real big hikes don't kick in until the Vikings leave
 

If the U had tried to gouge the Vikings, they Vikings could have simply played two seasons out of state entirely, or walked away from the stadium entirely and moved. The U's leverage was limited. There are a number of cities that would have welcomed having the Vikings for a couple years. When the stadium deal was approved, there was an agreement that the Vikings would rent TCF for a couple years, there were only details to work out. Gouging wouldn't have qualified as "details".
 

If the U had tried to gouge the Vikings, they Vikings could have simply played two seasons out of state entirely, or walked away from the stadium entirely and moved. The U's leverage was limited. There are a number of cities that would have welcomed having the Vikings for a couple years. When the stadium deal was approved, there was an agreement that the Vikings would rent TCF for a couple years, there were only details to work out. Gouging wouldn't have qualified as "details".

If all the gophers had to do to make the Vikings leave was gouge them, they really should have
 


The Vikings leaving because the U gouged them wouldn't go over well.

If the Vikings were offered 600 million state money and they chose to pass on it because their two year rent was too high, the public perception would be so anti-Viking no one would even remember why they left.

Meanwhile the gophers would have just gotten rid of one of their main competitors.
 

If the Vikings were offered 600 million state money and they chose to pass on it because their two year rent was too high, the public perception would be so anti-Viking no one would even remember why they left.

Meanwhile the gophers would have just gotten rid of one of their main competitors.

No. The Gophers are being pretty well compensated as it is, if the Gophers had tried to gouge the Vikings, the perception would be extremely anti-Gopher. It certainly wouldn't have gone over very well at the legislature the next time the U needed something. Realistically, the legislature would have forced the U not to gouge the Vikings. If the Vikings did leave, there probably would be a new team coming in anyway.
 

No. The Gophers are being pretty well compensated as it is, if the Gophers had tried to gouge the Vikings, the perception would be extremely anti-Gopher. It certainly wouldn't have gone over very well at the legislature the next time the U needed something. Realistically, the legislature would have forced the U not to gouge the Vikings. If the Vikings did leave, there probably would be a new team coming in anyway.

Many people in the legislature didn't want a stadium as it was.

I don't know enough about the market to know what kind of a deal the gophers got.

If getting the Vikings to move out of Minnesota was a possibility, the u of m athletics department would have been in my opinion really short sighted to not do things to try to facilitate that move.
 

Many people in the legislature didn't want a stadium as it was.

I don't know enough about the market to know what kind of a deal the gophers got.

If getting the Vikings to move out of Minnesota was a possibility, the u of m athletics department would have been in my opinion really short sighted to not do things to try to facilitate that move.
You really have little knowledge of this market, members of the legislature waffled on the stadium because they viewed it as potentially damaging in the next election. The election occurred a month ago and the stadium was a non-issue, indicating just how strong and overwhelming support for the stadium truly is. The Gophers need to continue to add Vikings' fans into the fray, something they've been able to do successfully over the past few years, as that is where the more youthful fans are. Attempting to gouge the Vikings would've been extremely damaging for the University, fortunaley Kahler and Teague understood this and realized that future success and support is dependent on fans who watch or attend both Viking and Gopher games.
 




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