Vikings Owner Zygi Wilf and other team execs "are hoping a special session will be called in October" so the Minnesota legislature can approve a plan for a new stadium. But Vikings VP/Public Affairs & Stadium Development Lester Bagley said, "There is growing concern within our ownership, there is no doubt, about where this is headed and the fact that every year, we get to the end of the session and there's a different reason why (it didn't get done). ... If we don't get it done this fall, we get to February (and) we will be the only NFL team without a lease. The only one. There's already been knocks on our door about, 'Hey, we want to talk to you guys when your lease is up'" (1500ESPN.com, 8/29). Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton said that he "would support letting Ramsey County voters weigh in on a proposed sales tax increase for a new Vikings stadium." But stadium backers "have been working on a plan that would not allow voters a say in building a Vikings stadium in Arden Hills" (AP, 8/29).
BIGGER IN TEXAS: In Ft. Worth, Stefan Stevenson reports TCU's Amon G. Carter Stadium is getting an additional "face-lift." The school yesterday announced that the "ongoing $143 million renovations to the 81-year-old stadium will include the east side stands," and construction will begin after the TCU football team's regular-season finale Dec. 3. The first phase of the renovations began in November, and the entire project "is expected to be completed next summer, well before the Frogs host Grambling State on Sept. 8, 2012." The height of the east side upper deck "will be parallel to the speakers currently sitting on the light poles of the current design." Capacity for the new stadium "will be 43,000, with future expansion capabilities of more than 50,000" (FT. WORTH STAR-TELEGRAM, 8/30).
BRIDGING THE GAP: In San Diego, Roger Showley notes yesterday's edition of the Architect's Newspaper included "an unsolicited plan by a pair of Australian architects, previously published, for a new Chargers stadium in downtown San Diego." The plan, by landscape architect David McCullough and San Diego-based Australians Pauly De Bartolo and Ivan Rimanic, "would create a park-like space bridging the blocks between Petco Park, the proposed stadium site in East Village and the San Diego Convention Center" (SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE, 8/30).
ALREADY GETTING THEIR MONEY'S WORTH: Either "MetLife," "MetLife Stadium" or "MetLife Trophy" were mentioned 10 times during NFL Network's broadcast of last night's Jets-Giants game at the newly christened stadium (“Jets-Giants,” NFL Network, 8/29).
