Initial reaction to a long-awaited report from the Metropolitan Commission regarding the proposed Vikings stadium in Ramsey County was that the report harms the project. Closer study apparently has caused supporters to conclude that the full body of the report finds favor with the plan -- or at least that it doesn’t kill it.
“There is nothing in this report which suggests we should not move forward with this site,” owner Zygi Wilf said, per the Minneapolis Star Tribune. “Let’s get this project done in Arden Hills.”
Governor Mark Dayton, who at times has been coy about the Ramsey County proposal, is now willing to make something happen. “I am willing to support a stadium in either Arden Hills or Minneapolis, as long as the project’s financing . . . is clearly defined and agreed upon,” Dayton said in statement, adding that now “is the time to decide whether or not to undertake this project and, if so, where to locate it.”
Dayton is right. Metropolitan Sports Facilities Commission president Ted Mondale said that legislators are facing a “career vote” on the issue, and the push continues to schedule a special session before Thanksgiving to approve a funding structure that includes contributions from the Vikings/NFL, the state government, and Ramsey County.
“This is our deal, at the right time and with the right partners,” Wilf said.
Wilf is right, too. And if the powers-that-be don’t see that soon, Wilf will be able to move the team to Los Angeles -- or to sell it to someone who would move it to Los Angeles -- with a clear conscience.