Vikings owner Zygi Wilf is among those who sounds confident that his team will be able to play Monday night at TCF Bank Stadium on the University of Minnesota campus. So far, the Vikings and the NFL have not come out and officially said this is a done deal.
Wilf, in Dallas for NFL meetings that are centering on the league's still unresolved collective bargaining agreement, told reporters he his "confident" and "optimistic" the game will be held at the Gophers stadium. (Hat tip to Chris Long of KSTP-TV for bringing these quotes to my attention. Give him a follow on Twitter www.twitter.com/jclong.)
"A lot of people are working very hard to get it done, but we want to assure the fans in the Twin Cities and all of Minnesota that we're going to have a game in Minnesota," Wilf said. "I look forward to being back outdoors the way I was always used to watching games and enjoying games." Wilf was a lifelong New York Giants fans before buying the Vikings in 2005 and has said in the past that he would not object to having his team in an outdoor venue.Wilf, like everyone from the Vikings organization so far, stayed clear of commenting on the team's desire for a new stadium.
"I've always advocated having a new stadium," he said. "But right now, we're making sure we're getting the venue ready for this coming week and we'll talk about addressing those issues as they come up. ... We're getting ready for this Monday night at [TCF Bank] stadium over in Minnesota, and hopefully we'll enjoy an outdoor game." NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said at the same meetings that he was "confident" of the game being played on the University of Minnesota campus. One would think that an announcement is going to need to be made Thursday declaring this thing is officially a go or not. Othewise, plans are going to have to be made for the game to be played elsewhere -- Indianapolis reportedly has offered the use of Lucas Oil Stadium and Atlanta also could be an option -- or the Vikings are going to need to inform ticketholders of how they are going to proceed given that the Metrodome seats 64,121 and TCF Bank Stadium seats about 50,000.
