footballstadiumdigest.com

A threat to impose a $4 million annual rent check for the Metrodome is causing bad blood between Minnesota Vikings owner Zygi Wilf and the Metropolitan Sports Facilities Commission.

The Vikings are nearing the end of their Metrodome lease; it's no secret team ownership would love to see a replacement for the Metrodome and has made several pitches -- albeit vague ones -- to the state for funding of a new stadium. 

The team is currently working with the commission on a stadium plan of sorts, but there's really no site, no budget or no funding sources in place. The challenge will be for the commission and the team to persuade the Minnesota Legislature in the 2010 session to throw lots of money at a new stadium.

But that partnership is a little frayed after officials from the commission threatened to impose a $4-million annual lease for the Metrodome if the team didn't commit to a two-year extension of the current lease, which calls for the team to pay nothing in rent, receive luxury-box revenues and share other ancillary revenues with the commission. That deal is slated to end after the 2011 season. The commission, obviously, wants to tie down the Vikings to Minnesota at a time when a new stadium in Los Angeles would be opening for business; the Vikings are already rumored to be a target of the stadium's owners, as well as the San Diego Chargers and Jacksonville Jaguars.

(Interestingly, the Minnesota Twins specifically chose not to work with the commission on their new ballpark, partnering instead of Hennepin County, the largest county in the state.)

The move would also give the commission time to work on plans for a new stadium. Though 2010 is a bonding year for the Legislature, it's doubtful whether an appropriation the size of the funds for a new Vikings stadium would be carried out in this manner: Gov. Tim Pawlenty has talked about the entire 2010 bonding proposal end up at $750 million. With the state facing another huge deficit on the budget front, many political experts say finding a billion or so dollars in the state budget for a Metrodome replacement would be a hard sell, especially when Pawlenty has presidential aspirations and would oppose any new taxes.

Wilf, however, isn't interested in the political realities: he has a hot team and obviously thinks the popularity of the team can be parlayed into a new facility. Perhaps. Sportswriters and team owners, we find, tend to overestimate winning and losing in stadium discussions: opponents don't give a damn whether a team is winning or losing. Really, there are only two plays here: come up with a funding plan that the politicians can support (something the commission has been loathe to do -- and we do think they do know better) or wait for another year and hope the state's financial situation improves. To Wilf's credit, he's turning away any talk of the team moving -- but when the new Los Angeles stadium is closer to reality, that situation may change.

Football Stadium Digest is now on Twitter! Sign up here to follow Football Stadium Digest.

Sign up here for the weekly Football Stadium Digest newsletter.