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| Chief Extortionist Goodell |
Apparently the NFL and commissioner Roger Goodell feels that a new NFL stadium for the Minnesota Vikings should be more important than funding basic state functions like education, roads and trying to balance the state's budget.
According to the Pioneer Press, Goodell told Governor Mark Dayton that their would be "Serious Consequences" for the team and the NFL if they don't push through a bill to fund a new stadium.
Godell's minions have been on the offensive, going to the press and wanting to know why and how the stadium bill is being held up. NFL VP of finance and transactions Eric Grubman going as far to say the Vikings have a "Dejected ownership" and that things are "ripe for change".
Read more from the Pioneer Press RIGHT HERE
So...it appears the NFL is using Los Angeles as their bargaining chip to get the Vikings a new stadium. The general appearance here is that the state isn't totally against granting the Vikings their wish, but rather they don't have the money to do it.
This REALLY pisses us off.
We aren't making a political statement here...BUT. We want an explanation.
Why do the TAXPAYERS of a state and/or city have to buy their NFL team a new stadium every 20-years or so?
Does the NFL NOT have enough money to pay for it themselves? Surely, the multi-BILLION dollar TV contracts they continue to sign with the TV Networks could pay for some of this. Or maybe the $Billions of profit they made last year could help fund a stadium.
Yes, we understand that its no longer about having a stadium in Pro Sports, its having a stadium that will maximize your profits. And that is all good...in theory. If you the NFL or the NFL team owner is going to get all the profits, why don't you pay for it yourselves?
Here at OSG Global HQ in Atlanta, there is a vigorous discussion going on about building a NEW stadium for the Falcons. And the city is more than happy to chip in $100's of millions of dollars...even though the city doesn't have enough money to pay for their schools or roadwork or for that matter, basic infrastructure improvements.
Sure, we are a small blog with a smallish, but loyal readership, yet still we have a message for the Jolly Roger and his mafioso cronies at "The League". YOU GUYS ARE EXTORTIONISTS!!! Good thing you don't have to live a life where you make less than...oh $30,000 a year. Then...and only THEN...would you understand why not everybody wants to contribute $100's of millions in EXTORTION fees to you and your teams every 20-years. And have you FORGOTTEN...we aren't exactly in the midst of a FLOURISHING ECONOMY these days.
Just sayin'...
Fitting Video..don't you think?
FRIDAY UPDATE: The Jolly Roger Speaks...
((HT: MyFoxTwinCities))
Roger Goodell: 'Time is Now' for Vikings Stadium: MyFoxTWINCITIES.com
John Croman was at the Capitol in St. Paul
((HT: KARE-TV))
Here's the presser with Dayton and Goodell in full...
It's close to a half an hour, but worth your time...
((HT: KSTP-TV))
What most people fail to understand is that stadiums, and their host of activities that occur within them, help pay for the education, roads, etc. NFL Owners would not like to pay $1B for a stadium that the play 10 games/year! Football is not the only thing that happens in the current HHH Metrodome, it is scheduled 300+ days/year, collecting revenue and taxes for the state. (Add on the revenue of local hotels, bars, restaurants, etc. How many jobs will be lost?) If that revenue leaves the state, the legislature will have to make up for the loss somewhere else....property, sales, other taxes? So, pay for em to leave or pay for a stadium?
ReplyDeleteGood point. But for every stadium that gets booked with other events there are many more that don't because the owners fear damage to the turf/facility. I lived briefly in Cincinnati where the stadium has less than 5 other events per year and the city can't pay the debt service on the place. They had to raid an indigent care fund to pay for it.
ReplyDeleteYou are right, its a tradeoff. The thing that bothers me about it is the "Give us what we want or you lose your team mentality".
That and you can bet 20-years from now the team will be looking for another new stadium before the old one is paid off. Here in Atlanta, they want to build a new, open air stadium and are contemplating blowing up the Ga.Dome for it even though the Dome is booked for all kinds of events including Final Fours, which they can't get without the dome. The city is going to pay half of it, even though they don't really have the money to do it.
well this hasn't really been a give us what you want or we leave type of deal here. this has been going on for a decade now, and the wilfs have either met or came as close as they could to meeting the political demands, only to have them say no and not do anything. what about the fact that the vikes are putting over 400 million into a stadium that they will not even own. if the vikes leave a lot will be lost as the post up above states.and why did minneapolis put up this big stink to make them build in minneapolis, just to say no? serious playground fighting going on between the politicians. the site should be arden hills it will develop an area eye sore with thousands of new jobs in the area between stadium, bars, hotels, and several other businesses that will most definitely open in that area. every deal has been shot down with the reasoning being we don't want to fund a billionaire, pull yer heads out of your collective arses and realize that vikes are a asset to the state
ReplyDeleteNo denying the Vikes are an asset, but you also have the Wilfs looking at UM with their new stadium and the Twins with Target Field wondering "where's ours...?"
ReplyDeleteArden Hills should, probably, be the site but you have to wonder about the seasons during construction and how it would work over on campus...
No not at all . the tactics in the Soprano's didn't work .The Vikings will be forced to leave Minne. Why can't the Vikings and Gophers play in the same park , Hey if the Jets and Giants can do it why not the Vikings and Gophers
ReplyDeleteCaves51--Unfortunately, its all about maximizing profits. The whole reason they want a new place is to generate more revenue for themselves. They...like every other NFL team are convinced that a new stadium will give them more luxury suites and more ways to charge more for things...and thusly make a bigger profit.
ReplyDeleteIf they share the college stadium, they won't make as much money. It has nothing to do with convenience.
To all--It's unfortunate that it has come to this, but the state is caught between a "rock and a hard place". THey obviously are having trouble figuring out a way to fund this and in the current economy, its not an easy thing to do. Conversely, the league has a stadium that may be built for them in LA and nobody to fill it.
I really think that they'll figure out a way to do this, having the Vikes leave Minnesota is going to be some really bad PR for the NFL and the mafioso's there do not like being made to look bad or greedy.
GOV DAYTON YOUR LIBERAL FAILURE OF A BRAIN IS THE REASON NOTHING HAS PASSED AND THE ONLY OPTION IS DOWNTOWN. GOV DAYTON YOU ARE A POS. GO JUMP OFF A BRIDGE
ReplyDeleteCaves51...
ReplyDeleteSome of the larger stumbling blocks for playing on the UM campus had to do with: allocating Metrodome season tickets into the TCF space, alcohol sales on the premises, concessions percentages, and above all- parking... they would stil exist in a new situation- all tough, but not insurmountable...
People like "You" REALLY piss me off. What you miss is the millions of dollars that a NFL team brings to the city. The hundreds of business that make millions of dollars by having the team, that then pay taxes. What you miss is that much of the funding comes from creative funding that simply doesn't touch or affect the average citizen. What you miss is that cities that don't have teams are more than happy to build stadiums in order to attract a team. It was the cities that used stadiums to lure teams to their cities, they set the prescient.
ReplyDeleteWhat you miss is if you build it right to begin with you won't have to replace it in 20 years. How long has the Super Dome, Lambeau, Soldiers field been around. The aforementioned stadiums had refurbishing done but at far less then what a new stadium would have cost. The Metro Dome was an excuse of a stadium from day one and the Vikings are going to be settling again, the stadium should be built in Arden Hills but politics pushed it back to Minneapolis where parking in ramps is so conducive to tailgating.
The bottom line is Minneapolis and Minnesota will lose financially if the Vikings leave. If you are a business man and Minnesota won't "help" with the cost of building a stadium and meanwhile LA offers to build a state of the art stadium, help with the cost of moving, and insert your team into a market 10 times larger then where you are now and you don't take that deal you are a moron. Think about it.
The Vikings have been asking for a stadium for 10 years. The Twins and the Gophers got stadiums it's time for the Vikings to get theirs. I get the opinion that billionaires should build their own stadiums but the truth of the matter is they're paying for over half, the community benefits thus should have skin in the deal, and last other cities will gladly do it if we don't.