Might Target Stadium be next?

I'm still rather undecided about the possibilities for a new Vikings stadium. Honestly, I don't like the idea of my taxes going up; which of course they will regardless of where it's built (unless of course, the Vikes come up with a county partnership like the Twins did).

Lately, there has been more and more chatter about the possibility of building a new Vikings stadium just west of Target Field. If you know where Mary's Place is, just off of 7th Street, that's where the Vikings are looking to set up camp. I don't like the idea of making Mary Jo Copeland relocate. I so appreciate the work she does for the community; and making her move to make way for a new sports palace, in my mind, is wrong.

Then, there would be the issue of naming rights for the new place. Should it be Target Stadium? You'd have Target Field, Target Center and Target Stadium. In all likelihood, that will not happen.

Here's what I think will play out: as much as I don't like it, the Vikings end up with the Mary's Place property. Target Corp. will back out of the Target Center naming rights deal, which is set to expire in June. Target Corp. having its name on a shiny, new, 72,000-seat stadium is more appealing than a renewing on a 21-year-old basketball arena.

If in fact, the Vikings do end up with that property, the new naming rights deal with Target will occur almost overnight. It's much easier for the Vikings to sell season tickets, suites, advertising and so forth to "Target Stadium" than it is to "New Minneapolis Stadium, future home of the Minnesota Vikings, title sponsor pending."

Think about what Farmers Insurance did. They inked a naming-rights deal with the yet-to-be-built, yet-to-be-groundbroken stadium in LA. LA doesn't even have a team yet, but they have a name for the new stadium. It's really a marketing thing.

Rumors are also circulating that the Vikings are soon to announce their plan to the state Legislature. We shall see what happens over the next few months.

Pepsi, Snickers, Vikings?

The Vikings merchandising department is trying something different: installing a vending machine at the Mall of America.

Interesting concept, to use something that most people associate with pop and candy to sell team merchandise. Of course, it isn't unusual either. The Minnesota State Lottery for instance has vending machines around the Twin Cities for its scratch-off tickets.

The Minneapolis Business Journal says that the team is doing it to better track automated merchandise sales. It is a first-of-its-kind merchandising ploy in the NFL, and if it is successful here, could be a model for other markets.

Best Buy also has used vending machines to sell Apple products, like the iPod.

But, if you want to go buy a Favre jersey, wouldn't you rather see it in person to check out the size and color, rather than have it dispensed to you from a vending machine?

The team however, believes that it is a "viable and economic" means of selling merchandise with the purple and gold on it.

We shall see.

Sports Day in Minnesota - an idea

Some of us may know that Fox Sports North (FSN), the regional cable sports network here in the Twin Cities, annually sponsors what they call "Hockey Day in Minnesota." FSN broadcasts peewee games, a high school game, a Gophers game and a Wild game all in the same day.

I was thinking the other day, now that Minnesota's sports teams all have a place of their own to play, what if all four major teams and the Gophers, played at home, on the same day?

It could work. It would be an economic boom for the Twin Cities with all those people. The TV networks would love the revenue. Here's how I envision it would work, and who would broadcast what.

We start the day at 11am with the Gophers at TCF Bank Stadium. The game would be carried either by ESPN or the Big Ten Network.

You could have a Wild game at 2pm at the Xcel Energy Center, broadcast by FSN.

It would take some doing with the NFL, but suppose there was a Vikings game at the Dome at about 3pm. Maybe even 4pm. This is where it could get a little interesting. Depending on whether FOX has the Major League Baseball playoffs that year, they might opt to show the World Series instead of a mid-season NFL game.

If Turner Broadcasting had the playoffs that year, just throw a couple million dollars at FOX to broadcast the game.

The overlap with the Wild game wouldn't be too bad.

Then, say the Timberwolves have their home opener at 5pm at Target Center. This one would be broadcast locally on Channel 45, KSTC.

And then, the piece de resistance, the Minnesota Twins play at Target Field at 7pm. For all five of these games to converge like this, it would put this particular day on or around October 28. The NBA regular-season doesn't start until very late October at the earliest.

And, it also assumes that the Twins likely took their season to Game 7 of the World Series that year.

All five teams would be very happy of course. All five are taking tickets, at home, in their own place, on the same day. I envision officials from MetroTransit at each venue passing out balloons, making speeches and throwing rice, celebrating the fact that the light rail systems they built and the commuter rail are working at full capacity.

This day probably would work best after the Central Corridor light rail along University Avenue is completed.

Downtown Minneapolis would benefit the most, as you'd have 40,000 for the Twins game. 63,000 for the Vikings game. 20,000 for the Timberwolves game. Another 50,000 just across the river for the Gophers. And, downtown Saint Paul would see 18,000 for the hockey game.

Restaurants and bars would be crowded. Streets would be buzzing with people. Traffic would be miserable (for those that didn't take mass transit). But, that would be one fun day.

The Metrodome Gets a New Name

Imagine my shock today, when I looked at my daily email from the Twin Cities Business Journal saying that the Vikings have sold the field naming rights to the Mall of America.(http://twincities.bizjournals.com/twincities/stories/2009/09/28/daily47.html?ed=2009-10-01&ana=e_du_pub)

Call it what you want, the Hump, the Dump, the Humpty Dumpty...this one does take me by surprise. I know why they named the place the way they did back in 1982: after Senator Hubert H. Humphrey. But, the Dome seems to be a mediocre tribute to a famous Minnesota politician.

The article cites reasons why the Vikings did it: they are the only tenant left in the Dome as of next Monday (Oct. 5). The Gophers are gone, and the Twins will be moving into their new Target Field next April; however, the transition of the Twins offices to the new ballpark will probably take place much sooner. This deal is at least one means of making some extra revenue for the Vikings - now that they don't have 81 guaranteed nights of revenue from concessions, tickets, advertising and so forth.

The article begs the question, why would the Vikings ink a deal like this, with only a year-and-a-half left on their lease? They've been telling us for years, at the end of the 2011 season, their time is up. So, will a naming rights deal with the Mall of America really make that much of a difference?

There seems to be a catch, however. The naming deal does not expire until February 2012. According to the article, "the [Vikings] described the arrangements as a short-term rebranding effort." The fact that it is a "rebranding effort" piques my curiosity. I know that there has been some light talk as of late about a renovated Metrodome which the Metropolitan Sports Facilities Commission (the group that operates the Dome) touts as "Metrodome Next."

So, is this to suggest that the wheels are spinning for "Metrodome Next" to come to fruition; and the naming deal with the Mall of America is an inroad to the future of the Vikings and the Metrodome? I'm not entirely sure what is meant by a "short-term rebranding effort," usually, if you re-brand something, it's should stick for more than three years. Are the Vikings suggesting that a much larger re-branding effort is in the works somewhere?

The new naming rights deal will be unveiled on Monday Oct. 5 (the day after the Twins' final home game) during the Monday Night Football (R) matchup with the Green Bay Packers.