Governor Dayton signed the stadium bill this morning, $975 million deal, almsot half paid for byt he Wilfs. The new stadium will be built in downtown Minneapolis on the current Metrodome site. Minnesota, the MLS clock can now start! With Chivas looking to move out of HDC, might the Chivas be available for a move and a re-brand? Would be nice for Minnesota to take a team from LA. New Stadium News Link
I dont believe Chivas USA will move out of southern cal. Though a rebrand would do them a world of good. Do Minn. SGs have any communication with the vikings owners about mls?
yea i heard about it this morning on the radio. the voting here is stupid. yesterday was a preliminary for todays vote. today they have to vote twice on the same thing. all votes are expected to remain the same. why not just have one vote?
I don't know that an NFL owner like Wilf would deign to communicate with lowly DII soccer supporting mortals, but I hope someone in the DC is at least trying. It would be terrible if the fans didn't have a say in forming the identity of the club. If Wilf can get an MLS team, he should take a page out of the Sounders, Timbers, and Impact book.
I'd be suprised if the Wilfs didn't let the fans in on naming and colors of the team to some extent. Can't wait to see the architectureal renderings of this stadium.
I've been waiting for this for some time, but Google finally updated the satellite imagery for the Twin Cities, enabling me to measure TCF Bank Stadium's pitch as a possible interim field for MLS expansion before 2017. The verdict: 116x71 yards. Fire away.
FI-YER! FI-YER! FI-YER, FI-YER, FI-YER!!!! Lo, lo, lo, lo Lo, lo, lo, lo Lo, lo, lo, lo, lo, lo, lo! Sorry, couldn't help myself.
Article in the Star Tribune today on how MLS4MN is working to make sure soccer isn't just an after thought in the building of the new stadium. SOCCER FANS WANT SAY ON VIKINGS STADIUM it would be a real shame if we have a repeat of TCF Stadium
I'm only 27 and can't believe this will happen in my lifetime. that article, to me, sounds like they're just hoping to host a few internationals. /yawn.
Seat license fee idea draws Gov. Dayton's ire Apparently Zygi Wilf has floated the idea of charging an extra "seat license fee" to fans who want season tickets to the new Vikings stadium to help pay for it in a recent survey. Gov. Dayton was not happy that they even suggested it.
Everyone seems hung up on the roof. Just curious am I the only one who is more concerned with the surface? Like retractable field instead, looks to be the same cost.
I'm actually not a huge fan. Personally, I like more traditional styling. What remains to be seen is whether their mixed use seating will be able to pull back far enough for soccer. Right now they're saying that it will be able to host baseball games, which might bode well for the possibility. But in that case, seating looks like it'd be pretty terrible. The surface will probably also be pretty bad for soccer (as it is now). I wish they would have tried to figure out a way to use actual grass.
I'm of a mind that it will be terribly for most things. Here's to hoping Minnesota United can find a different stadium solution--preferably one that's integrated into a neighborhood rather than jutting out of one.
Yeah when Wilf talked about getting an MLS team I was pumped. But its been all down hill from there. Every piece of news that has come out about the stadium has been lowering my opinion of it and this didn't help. I would rather any future MLS team or the Loons play in a 20k stadium built for soccer than a 65k stadium less than half full built for football.
wilf saying that seems to have been politics and nothing more. he was trying to make it sound like he had plans to use it year round, and not just for 10 sundays. someone commented that they should have tried to use grass. while i agree, grass would have been great, this is a football stadium first. football teams/players/owners prefer turf fields to grass in most cases. even the newer open aired stadiums are using turf. there was little chance of this ever being grass.
I took the field plan and scaled it in Illustrator to see what kind of soccer pitch could work: With the seats out for baseball, any soccer field width could work - but then you have the problem of the 30 foot high wall along one of the sidelines which looks pretty assinine. With the football stands down, 68 yards is the max you could fit unless there's a way you can remove seats in the corners only (and 68 is a tight squeeze, at that).
who would ever play baseball there? I'm curious because the taxpayers helped pay for a new Twins stadium just a few years ago.
Thanks for all the hard work! I figured as much. Looks like Wilf really was paying lip service to the idea of MLS all along. My Minnesotan heart should have known better. EDIT: I wonder if the mixed-use stands can be pulled back in increments.
Is that a steel beam jutting out of the upper bowl on the 1st base side? Looks like A LOT of obscured view seating. Who designed this thing?