Talks between Minnesota Vikings and State officials continue over new Stadium deal - NFL News
The Minnesota Vikings on Tuesday, February 21st, 2012 announced that talks between them and the state are set to continue with a new deal not any closer to be signed.
The stadium deal has been hampered for most of the year as negotiations drag on over the distribution of funds between all stakeholders and delays on an agreement are raising frustrations.
Team owners, state and city officials met with each other in the State Capitol building in St. Paul, Minnesota to work out a deal.
Team Vice President Lester Bagley said that "complicated negotiations" are going on and the delays are due to the long term nature of the impact of a new facility for the National Football League (NFL) franchise.
"We have to live with each other for the next 30 years," he said.
The Vikings have finally settled on the construction of a stadium in downtown Minnesota close to their current home of the Metrodome.
Governor, Mark Dayton, believes that a preliminary agreement can be reached within the week with only a few small issues left to be resolved between the concerned parties.
"There are still matters to be negotiated, particularly with the city of Minneapolis," Dayton said, but "the number of issues that remain are limited and can be overcome if all parties are willing."
The Vikings have also started negotiations with the University of Minnesota to make the TCF Stadium their temporary home while a new stadium is constructed.
The franchise is looking to agree a fee with the University for the usage of their facilities while also installing extra seating in the 50,000 capacity stadium to cater to the franchise’s season ticket holders.
"We have close to 53,000 season-ticket owners, so we're trying to at least get to that," Bagley said.
The Vikings have been looking for a new home for many years as the Metrodome does not generate enough revenue for the franchise to keep up with other teams in the NFL.
However, the franchise has been looking to the state to fund part of the cost to develop the new stadium and that is the main reason talks have stalled.
Now with negotiations getting increasingly frequent a new deal will likely be achieved soon.
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