Vikings deal would add 3,000 seats to TCF

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Maybe it shouldn't but this pisses me off.

The Vikings had the opportunity to have a stadium with the Gophers and chose to go their own way after a $1.1 billion dream.

I don't want the Gophers to have to play one single game with a band-aid of temporary seats in an end zone that make my eyes sore.

Oh, and Go Pack!
 


effin dumb.....what good are 3,000 crappy seats.

at the rate the vikes are going, they'll be happy to sell out TCF.
 

Very tacky, I hope on Saturday they are not taking away from my experience that I pay for every home game. Put the seats in the third deck. Make them pay for the third deck or no deal.

Go Gophers !!!!!!!!!!
 


Wheelwright said:
effin dumb.....what good are 3,000 crappy seats.

at the rate the vikes are going, they'll be happy to sell out TCF.
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Yeah... that would be like 150,000 dollars only minimum for ticket revenue. Plus whatever they buy to eat and drink. Plus parking. Effin dumb.
 

maroonfive said:
Very tacky, I hope on Saturday they are not taking away from my experience that I pay for every home game. Put the seats in the third deck. Make them pay for the third deck or no deal.

Go Gophers !!!!!!!!!!
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You know the Gophers don't sell out, right?
 

This was one of my fears - messing around with seating @ TCF and making it look like crap. I'm sure we will be looking at all the ugly field scrubbing of Viking logos\text through the Gopher logo\endzone text. I like the Vikes but stay out of TCF.
 

Parski1 said:
This was one of my fears - messing around with seating @ TCF and making it look like crap. I'm sure we will be looking at all the ugly field scrubbing of Viking logos\text through the Gopher logo\endzone text. I like the Vikes but stay out of TCF.
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Actually this might not happen. The end zones and field logos are sewn into the carpet. Ads and Whatnot, I'm not sure.
 



CrocShots said:
Actually this might not happen. The end zones and field logos are sewn into the carpet. Ads and Whatnot, I'm not sure.
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Oh really? Cool I didn't know that! Well hopefully they don't mess with the field then.
 

This would be for a few games - tops - nothing to worry about. IT would be while they blow up Metrodome to make way for parking...talk was 1-4 games....who cares
 

I think this is great. My first hope is the Gophers are winning and drawing enough to fill those extra seats as well. If not, I'm glad the extra revenue from the Vikes will help to make up for the lost Gopher ticket sales to date.

Really glad to see this. It would be nice to have the Viking season ticket base have an exposure to TCF Bank Stadium enough to perhaps extend another purchase for Gopher season tickets as well.
 

wels0081 said:
Maybe it shouldn't The Vikings had the opportunity to have a stadium with the Gophers and chose to go their own way after a $1.1 billion dream.
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Not true. The U (wisely) put the kibosh on a shared stadium. We're lucky the Vikings didn't push for one. It would have kept the Gophers in a bad spot revenue wise.

wels0081 said:
I don't want the Gophers to have to play one single game with a band-aid of temporary seats in an end zone that make my eyes sore.
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Um, they already played one this past season. The Nebby game. The alumni band sat there.
 




Wheelwright said:
effin dumb.....what good are 3,000 crappy seats.

at the rate the vikes are going, they'll be happy to sell out TCF.
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Well, right now that is the number of seats they need to add to make sure the current season ticket holders have seating. I don't have any idea WTF everyone is freaking out over. This was always going to be the plan and the U will make some nice bank on the situation IF it ever happens.
 

maroonfive said:
Very tacky, I hope on Saturday they are not taking away from my experience that I pay for every home game. Put the seats in the third deck. Make them pay for the third deck or no deal.

Go Gophers !!!!!!!!!!
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I'm hoping for sarcasm here.

If not, did the ones THEY ALREADY USED THIS PAST SEASON take away from your experience?
 

It's not even a Gopher game and the natives are freaking out. Settle down children.
 

Schnauzer said:
I think this is great. My first hope is the Gophers are winning and drawing enough to fill those extra seats as well. If not, I'm glad the extra revenue from the Vikes will help to make up for the lost Gopher ticket sales to date.

Really glad to see this. It would be nice to have the Viking season ticket base have an exposure to TCF Bank Stadium enough to perhaps extend another purchase for Gopher season tickets as well.
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+1
 

GoAUpher,

If memory serves correctly, the public line on no partnership was that the neighborhoods surrounding campus didn't want game day traffic both Saturdays and Sundays.

However, the Vikings refused to do anything cheaper than the $1.1 billion, retractable, homage to Zygi so the Gophers bailed because the political tea leaves said there is no way something like that is getting built.

Here we are now 7 years after the Gophers secured the cash for TCF and the Vikings still don't have a stadium but the private, for profit, Zygster wants to doctor the public stadium to line his own pockets.

Oh, and that new $1.1 billion stadium... the taxpayers better pay for a huge chunk of that too or he's taking his crappy team to L.A.
 

wels0081 said:
GoAUpher,

If memory serves correctly, the public line on no partnership was that the neighborhoods surrounding campus didn't want game day traffic both Saturdays and Sundays.

However, the Vikings refused to do anything cheaper than the $1.1 billion, retractable, homage to Zygi so the Gophers bailed because the political tea leaves said there is no way something like that is getting built.

Here we are now 7 years after the Gophers secured the cash for TCF and the Vikings still don't have a stadium but the private, for profit, Zygster wants to doctor the public stadium to line his own pockets.

Oh, and that new $1.1 billion stadium... the taxpayers better pay for a huge chunk of that too or he's taking his crappy team to L.A.
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I recall several articles (STrib and Daily) where the U specifically called out the fact that the goals of the University and the goals of the Vikings were incompatible for an on campus stadium. The neighborhood concerns were a part of that I'm betting. They also noted that the Gophers were no longer looking to share an off campus facility. I'd link to these if I could, but we're talking 2003 and I doubt they are available (I actually read them on paper...those were the days). I did a quick Google search and found nada.

Also, Zygi wasn't the owner yet when those plans for a shared stadium stalled. The owner was still Red McCombs.
 

Are people really worked up over 3,000 temporary seats? There is plenty of space to distribute them on the west end and top of the stadium. Like others have pointed out, this is for 1-4 games or one season tops. This is going to take place likely 3 years down the road. If we/gophers can't fill those 3,000 seats by then, we may have other issues on our hands. I hope by the time it all comes down, we have the demand to add 3-5 thousand permanent seats.
 

GoAUpher said:
I recall several articles (STrib and Daily) where the U specifically called out the fact that the goals of the University and the goals of the Vikings were incompatible for an on campus stadium. The neighborhood concerns were a part of that I'm betting. They also noted that the Gophers were no longer looking to share an off campus facility. I'd link to these if I could, but we're talking 2003 and I doubt they are available (I actually read them on paper...those were the days). I did a quick Google search and found nada.

Also, Zygi wasn't the owner yet when those plans for a shared stadium stalled. The owner was still Red McCombs.
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Here you go, GoAUpher.

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Vikings: 'U' Stadium Site Won't Work
by Marisa Helms, Minnesota Public Radio
November 25, 2002

The Minnesota Vikings are rejecting a campus site proposed for a joint stadium with the University of Minnesota Gophers. The announcement comes just days before a deadline for the Vikings and the U to submit a joint stadium proposal to lawmakers. Vikings officials say the site is too small, too isolated, and does not have the parking or traffic infrastructure to support the NFL team's needs. University officials say their goal is to bring Gopher football back to campus. While they say they are open to continuing negotiations with the Vikings, they say they will explore the option of a Gophers-only stadium.

Last session, lawmakers set aside $500,000 for a design study and an operating agreement between the Vikings and the university.

But in recent weeks, disagreements from both sides have been emerging. First, university officials were concerned when the Vikings refused to commit to a specific dollar contribution.

Now the Vikings are rejecting a campus site that's been the subject of the negotiations for months.

Executive Vice President Mike Kelly says the site at University Ave., and across Oak St., from Mariucci Arena and Williams Arena, is unworkable because it is too small and too isolated. He says the parking and infrastructure just isn't there.

"The problem with it is, it has to be big enough, and it has to have the roads that can allow people to get to it and leave. It doesn't do us any good to build a terrific facility and subject the university campus to gridlock," he said.

Kelly says he was surprised that the site ultimately is not going to work. He says the Vikings will continue to talk with the university about an acceptable joint stadium deal.

But university officials say the site can work, and it could be the only spot available on the densely built-up Minneapolis campus.

The university's chief financial officer, Richard Pfutzenreuter said in a press conference that apart from the NFL team rejecting the campus site, there are even more sticking points in the Vikings negotiations.

"They're concerned about many aspects of the site in terms of how it plays into the revenue stream. Everything from naming rights -- perhaps it can't be named the same things on this campus that it might be named in a cornfield on the edge of the Twin Cities. Perhaps there's more revenue there, I don't know, but there were business reasons that they rejected the site," he said.

University officials and community members have questioned whether a 365-day-a-year NFL entertainment venue on campus is compatible with the university's academic mission.

University officials say their singular goal in this deal is to return Gopher football to campus.

University lawyer Mark Rotenberg says going it alone without the Vikings is an option the school is exploring.

"We're aware of discussions about that. We're participants in those kinds of discussions. Right now, our mission was to negotiate in good faith with the Vikings on a joint use stadium. That's what the legislation said we should do. That's what we tried to do. The Vikings for their own reasons chose to pull the plug on that particular proposal," Rotenberg said.

But working with the Vikings may be the only way to bring Gophers football back on campus. Lawmakers have made it clear they're not interested in considering more than one new stadium.

Gov.-elect Tim Pawlenty says the university and the Vikings need to work things out before taking up lawmakers' time and energy to decide the fate of a joint stadium.

"I think that partnership offers some hope and they should continue to work on it. But we're not going to allow this to consume the legislative session. We've got bigger issues than this, and that needs to be dealt with first and foremost. And if they're going to fuss and mess too much and try to turn this into a circus, I'm not going to let that happen," Pawlenty said.

Lawmakers had set a Dec. 1 deadline for the two parties.

The Vikings' Mike Kelly says the good news for lawmakers is that pre-design studies show a joint stadium can work.

http://news.minnesota.publicradio.org/features/200211/26_helmsm_ustadium/
 


MaxyJR1 said:
Like others have pointed out, this is for 1-4 games or one season tops. This is going to take place likely 3 years down the road. If we/gophers can't fill those 3,000 seats by then, we may have other issues on our hands. I hope by the time it all comes down, we have the demand to add 3-5 thousand permanent seats.
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Couple of thoughts. 1) This whole deal is still completely tentative and probably won't happen anyway. They haven't even spelled out all the funding sources yet. 2) They aren't going to add 3-5 thousand permanent seats. The Vikings won't pay for it. There is nothing in that for them. Besides, where would they put them? Adding that few permanent seats would look way uglier as a tiny fraction of a third deck then a few games worth of temp seats would ever look.
 

How about this for a reasonable solution: As part of the deal, the Gophers agree to try to market the extra seats (recent grads? family packs?). If they can't sell them, the Vikings are required to buy the 3,000 tickets for each game that the temporary seats are in place. They can give them to their season ticket holders to thank them for sticking with them through the transition to the new place or, even better, donate them to youth groups around the state and facilitate transportation for those groups. The U gets the increased revenue of the ticket sales and exposes thousands of fans to their product who might not otherwise watch or attend the games.
 

2nd Degree Gopher said:
How about this for a reasonable solution: As part of the deal, the Gophers agree to try to market the extra seats (recent grads? family packs?). If they can't sell them, the Vikings are required to buy the 3,000 tickets for each game that the temporary seats are in place. They can give them to their season ticket holders to thank them for sticking with them through the transition to the new place or, even better, donate them to youth groups around the state and facilitate transportation for those groups. The U gets the increased revenue of the ticket sales and exposes thousands of fans to their product who might not otherwise watch or attend the games.
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Love it.
 

2nd Degree Gopher said:
How about this for a reasonable solution: As part of the deal, the Gophers agree to try to market the extra seats (recent grads? family packs?). If they can't sell them, the Vikings are required to buy the 3,000 tickets for each game that the temporary seats are in place. They can give them to their season ticket holders to thank them for sticking with them through the transition to the new place or, even better, donate them to youth groups around the state and facilitate transportation for those groups. The U gets the increased revenue of the ticket sales and exposes thousands of fans to their product who might not otherwise watch or attend the games.
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Sounds pretty good, though I doubt the Vikings are interested in guaranteeing the Gophers up to another $825,000 in revenue (if all 3K seats had to be purchased for a full season). The rest of the idea sounds solid to me (especially the donate them to youth groups part). My one concern would be with putting new STH there (like recent grads) b/c you don't want to get folks hooked and then run the risk of not having permanent seating options for them.
 

I don't see the big deal about this. If the Vikes need to play a few games at the Bank, they put in a few thousand temp seats no problem. If it was three years of temp seats, not having access to stadium on Sunday mornings for recruiting then we got a problem IMO.
 

My point is this: the Minnesota Vikings have done the University of Minnesota few favors when it comes to football. Did they even donate a dime for TCF?

Why should the U feel so indebted to a private entity that many would consider a competitor to one of the university's top revenue generators?
 

wels0081 said:
Why should the U feel so indebted to a private entity that many would consider a competitor to one of the university's top revenue generators?
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wat?

First off, the U doesn't view the Vikings as a competitor, regardless of what 'many' fans like to think. College football and the NFL are simply two different levels of the game, not direct competitors. They would be competitors if they broadcasted games the same time (both on Saturdays/Sundays).

Secondly, on your Zigy lining his pockets with taxpayer money point.. Certainly that's not how he feels about getting state help funding for the new stadium. Chances are he just isn't liquid enough to fund the $1 billion affair. That's not even the point of my comment.. There is no proof that the taxpayers actually pay for the new stadium yet. No one has come out with a plan on WHERE the money's coming from. For all we know it could be paid for by the White Earth tribe's casino, or the money would be paid back with interest by sharing in the naming rights and other endeavors of a new stadium.

Instead of throwing out rhetoric, lets think before making accusations.
 

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