I love the Vikings and the Gophers. I don’t see this as an either/or scenario nor do I believe the teams compete with one another. It is possible to rabidly support both teams.
Regarding a comment about a change in Vikings the fan base circa 1998, as a season ticket holder for the Vikes (and the Gophers by the way) that absolutely occurred. The playoff disappointments of the early to mid-1990s and numerous player DWIs caused a bleed out of many season ticket holders who decided they’d had enough, including many older fans that went back to the Met and the 1960s and 70s. Around the same time, the Vikings finally stopped charging the same amount per game for all seats, ending the dated, lazy, and unfair practice of fans on the lower deck at the 50 paying the same as fans in the upper deck by the main scoreboard. With the new tiered pricing, suddenly fans in certain choice locations saw a significant increase in their season ticket prices, causing an additional bleed out. The falling season ticket base and the end of the buyout fund from General Mills resulted in empty seats and a few blackouts in the 1995-97 range.
Then, the team went 15-1 in 1998 and everything changed. The excess season and single game tickets were snapped up by a younger, harder drinking, and rowdier fan base. The games got way wilder. The Red McCombs administration seemed to actively encourage that atmosphere and the fans took the cue. Fights and drunkenness became more common. The Dome got much less family friendly, but however it was achieved, the atmosphere was certainly livelier in general than in it was in 1982-97 range. The Wilf regime at least doesn’t push the drinking and rowdiness like the McCombs regime did, but things have never really calmed down. Say what you will about bad surroundings making for bad attitudes, but Vikes crowds at The Bank have been much more peaceful in comparison to the Metrodome, possibly due to the great weather for all the games so far. It’ll be interesting to see how the atmosphere is at the new stadium.