Vikings owner takes stadium case on the road

By MIKE KASZUBA STAR/TRIBUNE

AUSTIN, MINN. -- Making his most expansive comments yet on the need for a new stadium, Minnesota Vikings owner Zygi Wilf chastised politicians Tuesday for dodging an issue that "doesn't serve their political purposes" and said they should not "run away" from a project many Minnesotans want to see happen.

Calling himself not only the owner but the "guardian" of the state's most popular sports franchise, Wilf sat on a stool and answered a series of pointed questions, saying he favored a stadium with a retractable roof, did not think "retrofitting" the team's Metrodome home made sense and felt that politicians who ducked the stadium issue were not providing "an acceptable answer to us." Wilf seemed to save his bluntest remarks for the state's elected officials.

"It's unfortunate that many people don't want to get engaged in it because it doesn't serve their political purposes," Wilf told a sold-out Chamber of Commerce luncheon. "This team belongs to the fans and the people of Minnesota."

Wilf's comments were another sign that the team senses an opening to push the stadium debate, as players pile up wins on the football field. His comments came just days after the Vikings began feuding publicly with the Metrodome's owners over an unwelcome attempt to extend the team's lease past 2011.

While Wilf acknowledged that he was advocating for a stadium that would almost certainly need taxpayer money in a "difficult economy," he brushed aside the notion that Minnesotans might see it as another government bailout of a wealthy professional team owner.

"I think he's a great guy," said Ben Rushton, of Austin, moments after posing for a picture with Wilf. Rushton said he attends one Vikings game a year, but "I would vote yes" for a new stadium. It was "inevitable," he said, that taxpayer money would be involved. "It's going to cost [everybody] money, no matter what."

Monica Dahlen, a mother of three, arrived with purple-painted fingernails, each nail featuring a letter that spelled out "V-I-K-E-S, 4-E-V-E-R." Standing in line as a large crowd filed into a hall to await Wilf and the players, Dahlen said that "as far as taxes, I don't think that should be a problem."

Asked whether the Legislature needs to act in 2010, Wilf simply said that "we got to do it now," and said that "seeing the outcry" from fans regarding the Vikings showed that "the team is something that makes everyone's quality of life that much better." Wilf said the team has no plans to leave Minnesota.

In another departure, Wilf said he now wants a retractable roof stadium. The Vikings have said in the past that the team did not need a retractable roof -- a feature that would add an estimated $200 million to the price of a stadium. Not everyone was ready to join the stadium bandwagon Tuesday, including Gov. Tim Pawlenty and Brandon Talley, an Austin resident who listened to Wilf speak at the YMCA.

At the State Capitol, Pawlenty said the Vikings "need a solution in the not-too-distant future," but noted that the stadium "has to be put in the entire context of lots of other stuff." The governor said the state's next economic forecast, due next week, will show that "we are going to have much more of a challenge this session than people realize."

During much of his visit to Austin, Wilf appeared relaxed and at one point joked openly with Shiancoe about player salaries. Sen. Dan Sparks, DFL-Austin, who sat near Wilf at the luncheon, said Wilf taking center stage would aid the Vikings' cause. "I think it certainly is not going to hurt him," Sparks said.