In Minnesota, the operative word currently is “tentative.”
There’s a “tentative” deal to build a new building for the Vikings. And, in turn, there’s now a “tentative” deal to play games at the University of Minnesota’s TCF Bank Stadium.
According to the Minneapolis Star Tribune, 3,000 temporary seats will be added to the 50,000-seat venue, which will accommodate the team’s 53,000 season-ticket holders.
(Then again, if the team keeps playing like it did in 2011, 50,000 seats will be more than enough to seat the remaining season-ticket holders by the time TCF Bank Stadium actually would be used.)
“I’d say there’s an agreement in principle there, but formal signoff is yet to occur between the Vikings and the university,” Vikings V.P. Lester Bagley said.
The number of games that would be played there remains undetermined. With the latest proposed site now moved slightly from the current Metrodome location, TCF Bank Stadium will be needed for less than the previous estimate of three seasons. Recently, there have been conflicting accounts as to whether the Vikings would play there for a full year or less than that.
For now, the deal imposes a per-game charge on the Vikings for use of the stadium. In 2010, the Vikings paid $1.7 million to use the stadium for a Monday night game against the Bears, after the roof of the Metrodome collapsed under the weight of a whole bunch of snow.