Governor Mark Dayton Going All In For New Vikings Stadium in Arden Hills

Read More: Minnesota Vikings, Los Angeles Lakers

While Minnesota House Majority leader Matt Dean does not believe the issue merits the emergency status of a special legislative session that Governor Mark Dayton has called for, Dayton and Vikings owner Zygi Wilf remain firmly together in their quest for a publicly subsidized stadium to be built at the Arden Hills site, in a suburb of Minneapolis. And Dayton is vowing to throw his political weight around to make sure that it happens.

"I'd want a stadium to be in Minneapolis rather than Los Angeles," he said, in reference to business groups there that are aggressively seeking a new NFL franchise, adding that the Vikings have made their large financial contribution contingent on building in Arden Hills.

"The only site the Vikings are willing to consider, and put four to five hundred million dollars into, is Arden Hills," Dayton said.

Dayton still faces pushback from Republic legislative leaders, but it remains difficult to see how letting the team slip away from Minnesota would benefit anyone or anything, from the livelihood of the politicians being party to such a move to the economy and spirit of a city that is buoyed in part by its sports teams, particularly after the city eventually brought back other sports franchises that previously left: The Minneapolis Lakers moved to Los Angeles and became the Los Angeles Lakers in 1960 only for the city to get the Minnesota Timberwolves in 1989, and the Minnesota North Stars left for Dallas to become the Dallas Stars in 1993 only for the city to get the Minnesota Stars in 2001.