Chicken Little Wears Purple
Thursday, January 29, 2009 15:44
It’s possible that the owners of the Minnesota Vikings, the Wilf family, are eyeing Los Angeles as a new franchise home as well as a partnership with a SoCal developer for a stadium deal. As reported in the San Gabriel Valley Tribune, a proposal is in place to develop a tract of land for a new stadium in the LA suburb of Walnut, CA.
They wouldn’t need public funds in Los Angeles. With this proposal, they’re already going to develop a huge tract due east of LA and nearly equidistant from Anaheim and Riverside. Plus, if (IF) they have an opportunity to negotiate ownership of a section of highway that would feed the property (installing a toll), they wouldn’t need a dime from the public. Infrastructure investment is one area that real estate investors are still targeting. It provides a constant income stream at moderate rates of return over a long period of time.
The NFL will NOT allow too many more years to pass without a team calling the 2nd largest media market in the USA home. As popular as the NFL is, that’s insanity for any pro sports league. There is more than enough money in and around Los Angeles / SoCal to get a deal done, with enough revenue-generating opportunities (Personal Seat Licenses, naming rights, parking, infrastructure ownership, etc.) in addition to the league’s revenue-sharing AND merchandising to provide more $$$ than the Wilfs will ever in their wildest fantasies realize in the frozen tundra of Minneapolis.
That Minnesota was in grave danger of a home playoff game blackout proves the unwillingness of the Minnesota buying public to pay extra money for the entire strip of playoff games, much less for Personal Seat Licenses. Not enough money in Minneapolis, plenty of it in Los Angeles. It’s all about the dollars.
Today’s NFL owner always keeps an eye on how much he or she can realize by selling his or her team and/or selling out a city–an exit strategy. Wayne Huizenga and Art Modell both cashed in big recently by selling majority stakes in their teams. The Wilf family is like every other owner these days, always thinking about their exit strategy. Los Angeles would provide plenty of $$$ on exit.
ernessa
says:
January 30th, 2009 at 1:28 am
That's really exciting. Fingers crossed…
Nate Barlow
says:
January 30th, 2009 at 2:42 am
As much as I would love to have a team in LA, I would hate for this to happen. It angers me greatly when a team leaves a city with which it has a long history (Minnesota has been an NFL franchise since 1961). It's gut-wrenching for all those loyal fans. I recall when Art Modell moved the original Cleveland Browns to Baltimore. Even the Pittsburgh fans were angry that their rival city lost their team (I saw many a "The Browns suck, Modell swallows" T-shirt.
If a team is going to move, let it be relatively new team for which the history isn't there, or, if an older team, at least one with no fan support (of course, in the NFL, most teams do pretty well in terms of support, unlike in some other sports). Otherwise, expansion is not nearly as cruel. Cleveland and Houston both had their teams replaced in that manner. The NFL has enough overall fan interest to support one more team; the bigger question is how much further would that dilute the overall talent pool?
Gairzo
says:
January 30th, 2009 at 5:07 am
Right now, the NFL has the perfect set-up in terms of divisional sanity, scheduling and history. Adding an L.A. team isn't feasable in terms of scheduling. At 32 teams, The NFL doesn't need or want to expand. They suck every dollar they can from the fans and have just about reached the saturation point in terms of product exposure.
If the Wilfs–or any other owner–made that move, the league would need to roll out the propaganda machine exposing the tundra's cold fans as cheap ingrates. I think the Wilfs are using relocation to get the politicos off their asses and ramp up the masses for fund a new stadium.
The Metrodome has the personality of a dime store pup tent. No way the Minnesota politicians let that team go–unless they're really stupid…
Oh boy…How does "The L.A. Beach Boys" sound? No? " The California Condors"?…NO?..The Inland Emperors? I got it! THE SO-CAL CLAMS!!!
Nate Barlow
says:
January 30th, 2009 at 5:38 am
I agree that the NFL won't add another team; I would just prefer to see that instead of moving an established franchise.
The Metrodome is easily amongst the most reviled venues in American pro sports. I hope the Wilfs are just making a new stadium play. Not just because I don't think the Vikings should leave Minnesota, but because it would great not to see that eyesore of a stadium for anymore football games.
How about the LA Guilty Celebrities?
Who’s Next | Deep Into Sports says:
February 12th, 2009 at 12:18 pm
[...] by a team moving. Since MP Olson recently wrote about the possibility of the Vikings moving to LA (“Chicken Little Wear Purple”, January 29), I thought I’d link to the Yahoo! Sports article here and open the wider subject [...]