Vikings Stadium: Three yards and a cloud of dust

By Mike Kaszuba

Two weeks ago, as the Brett Favre-led Minnesota Vikings played the Green Bay Packers, there were two events at the State Capitol that indicated there was movement on plans for a new Vikings stadium.

Maybe there is, but the evidence just as equally suggests that maybe there isn't.

First, Rep. Joe Atkins, DFL-Inver Grove Heights, held a committee hearing that featured the Vikings again talking about their long-stalled plans for a new stadium. Then three days later, Rep. Tom Hackbarth, R-Cedar, unveiled a proposal -- on the day of the Viking-Packer game, no less -- to install slot machines at the state's two horse racing tracks and use the proceeds to pay for a new stadium.

Both events drew relatively heavy media attention.

But there are these facts to remember: Atkins invited the Vikings to make a presentation, not the other way around. And Atkins appeared to load the agenda for that days' House Commerce and Labor Committee session -- he chairs the panel -- with a series of topics designed to draw attention. In addition to the Vikings, the panel discussed online gambling, auto dealership closures around the state, Delta Airlines' acquisition of Northwest Airlines, physician gift laws and the troubled Wakota Bridge project.

One lobbyist joked that the only topic missing for a committee chair wanting to get media attention was an agenda item on legalizing prostitution.

As for Hackbarth, the seven-term legislator said his proposal led to a meeting with the Vikings -- but not much else. "[There's] nothing really new to report," he said.

Hackbarth, who does not have a large profile at the Legislature, said he too was mystified about what Atkins was doing since, he said, Atkins "really didn't have a plan" for a Vikings stadium.

Meanwhile, most of the heavy hitters at the State Capitol, from Gov. Tim Pawlenty to the many DFLers and Republicans running for governor, are largely staying away from the topic.

But team spokesman Lester Bagley said he sees some progress -- despite all of that, and the fact that the state budget deficit and the 2010 governor's race are sure to dominate the political agenda next year. "It seems to us there is a shift in the debate," he said, ". . .now that the [University of Minnesota] Gophers are out, and the [Minnesota] Twins are out" of the Metrodome, where the Vikings remain the only large tenant and have a lease that expires in 2011.

While Bagley said the Vikings have not talked stadium with Pawlenty since February, he said the Vikings have had "brief conversations" with the University of Minnesota over allowing the Vikings to use the school's new football stadium on a temporary basis should a new Vikings stadium get approved but not be completed by the time the team's lease expires in 2011. He said the university has shown a "willingness" to discuss the arrangement.