One of the potential issues with the current Vikings' stadium legislation is that there isn't currently a local partner that is attached to the bill. As it stands now, there are three sites that are potentially in play for the stadium, and each of them has their advantages and their drawbacks. Let's take a look at those three locations.
The first location that has been discussed is an area to the west of Target Field in Minneapolis. This plan is being championed by Hennepin County Board Chairman Mike Opat. The problem with this plan is that a lot of things would have to be relocated, which could end up getting expensive, and Minneapolis mayor R.T. Rybak is not in favor of building at that particular location.
Rybak's plan involves tearing down the Metrodome and building a new stadium on or near that site. However, since Hennepin County is championing the site near Target Field that I just mentioned, they're not supporting this one, and Rybak himself has said that the city of Minneapolis can't afford to help out in that scenario, either. In addition, this would likely force the Vikings to play at TCF Bank Stadium during construction. . .and, as we learned when the Vikings played the Chicago Bears at that location during the 2010 season, it holds about 10,000 people less than the Metrodome and really isn't equipped for playing football after the month of November.
The last site is the location of the former Twin Cities Ammunition Play near Arden Hills at the intersection of U.S. Highway 10 and Interstate 35W. Talks have been going on between the team and Ramsey County for quite a while now, but nobody is sure how much progress those talks have made.
In my opinion. . .and I'll preface this by saying that I'm no expert or anything. . .but I think that the Vikings should stop screwing around and work something out with the people of Ramsey County and get something done at the Arden Hills location. The Vikings have done this dance before with Anoka County, attempting to use them as leverage to get something done within the city of Minneapolis itself, and once Anoka County realized what was going on, they told the Vikings to bugger off and took their deal. . .which was a very good one, by all accounts. . .off of the table.
At this stage of the game, Arden Hills has actually made some advances towards getting something done, something that we can't say for anywhere in Minneapolis proper. If R.T. Rybak and Minneapolis are content to lollygag on something like this and not get anything done, Zygi Wilf and company do not have the time to stand around twiddling their thumbs until they decide to get moving. If the Vikings are simply trying to use Arden Hills as leverage, they're going to find themselves standing at the altar once again. . .or, worse still, finding themselves eloping to Los Angeles or some other location to get themselves hitched to some hussy.
(Does anyone still use the word "hussy?" If they don't, they should.)
When it comes to the Minnesota Vikings' stadium situation, in the words of latter-day American philosopher Frank Drebin, it's fourth-and-15 and the Vikings are looking at a full court press. The time to get this done is now, and hopefully that's what we will see.