Is Vikings stadium now or never?

MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. -- In a game of yellow flags, Vikings fans like Michael Nelson say Minnesota plays with a permanent penalty. Its name? The Metrodome, at 27 years old a stadium Nelson calls unfit for professional football.

"The Metrodome is 1970 technology," Nelson said.

But Nelson's not just a fan. He's also a state representative who chairs the local government committee, and with a projected $4 billion state deficit, he says stadium money may be hard to find.

"How we pay for it is the big question," said Nelson, a Democrat from Brooklyn Park.

It's not the only big question facing the state and its football team. This week, Vikings owner Zygi Wilf was asked whether he plans to move the franchise if he doesn't get a stadium. Wilf answered by saying he's a "guardian of the team" with no plans to leave, though he spoke out against Minnesota lawmakers.

"We need to get everybody who makes the decisions up on the hill and the governor's office to be more engaged and discuss these things more openly," said Wilf at a Chamber of Commerce luncheon in Austin. "Because to run away is not an acceptable answer to us."

But the Vikings say for a number of reasons, momentum is growing: The team has been successful, fans are inspired by new Twins and Gophers stadiums, and a certain player has captured the attention of the state, and of the nation.

"Brett Favre's our best lobbyist," said Lester Bagley, the Vikings Vice President of Public Affairs and Stadium Development. "He has rallied people behind the organization, and our fans are energized on the stadium issue."

Energized, and educated, say the Vikings, saying taxpayers will support a stadium if they see its benefits. They're asking for $32 to 45 million a year in public money, but say they already generate most of that. And, they say, it's now or never, especially with a winning record.

"What we've done, essentially," said Bagley, "Is left the most dysfunctional facility to the state's most popular team."

But still unpopular is the idea of a new stadium, a plan Nelson says legislators give lukewarm support at best.

"Fifty, fifty is probably what it is," Nelson said. "And we're going to have to look at everything that's involved in it."

For more information from the Metropolitan Sports Facilities Commission, click here.

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