Well, this is certainly ... something. The roller coaster of the Minnesota Vikings and their stadium situation continues, with the latest turn potentially being a good one for those who want the team to stay and get a stadium built sooner rather than later. It was already reported that the NFL was going to put some pressure on the state to get something built - mostly by saying "Hey, these are the cities interested in hosting the Vikings franchise if Minnesota/Minneapolis doesn't get it together."
Now, it's looking like that pressure could be working to an extent. As noted by the Star Tribune, Roger Goodell is in town to meet with various folks connected to the situation - including the Republican and DFL leaders on Friday. It also notes that Art Rooney II, the owner of the Pittsburgh Steelers and the chair of the league's stadium committee would also be sitting in on the meetings. That's some pretty heavy brass.
They're not there to threaten the state by definition, but they're definitely there to make some noise. And apaprently, it's working - just a little bit:
In a slight sign of movement, Senate Majority Leader David Senjem said after Dayton's comments Thursday that a Senate panel where the nearly $1 billion Vikings stadium plan has been stalled for weeks would now likely meet Friday to reconsider the legislation.
Senjem's comments came after Senate Minority Leader Tom Bakk, the lead DFLer in the Senate, said DFLers on the 14-member panel would agree to put up the majority of the votes needed to pass the Vikings plan in the committee.
If this can get the issue back on the docket, then that's a huge win for the Vikings. The team doesn't want to move, and there's no indication that they definitely will if things don't work out, but Goodell's presence certainly makes things seem a bit more real. Governor Mark Dayton said that it wasn't a threat, but that Goodell was simply saying "this is the way our league operates," - potentially referencing a list of cities where the Vikings could relocate to.
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