With the NFL scuttling supplemental revenue sharing and Minnesota facing a ten-figure budget deficit, the planets could be getting a bit closer to aligning in a way that sends the Vikings to a new town.
Presumably, to Los Angeles.
Sean Jensen of the St. Paul Pioneer Press reports that the league’s refusal to continue with supplemental revenue sharing will cost the Vikings $15 million to $20 million per year.
And so, if the extra money to help make the team profitable in Minnesota won’t be available, the Vikings might have to move to a market where more money will come from the local fans and businesses.
Like Los Angeles.
Complicating matters is the reality that Minnesota is projecting a $1.2 billion shortfall, which will make it even harder for the Vikings to secure public financing for a new stadium.
Then there’s the fact that the clock is ticking, even more loudly than the biological mechanisms of Mona Lisa Veto.
The team’s lease at the Metrodome expires after the 2011 season. At that point, the Vikings can go wherever they want, if enough of the rest of the NFL’s owners approve.
It would be hard to envision enough of the rest of the owners not approving a move out of Minnesota, given that the owners have contributed to this mess by pulling the plug on a revenue stream that is helping to keep the team afloat in the Land of 10,000 Lakes.
