In Minneapolis, Mike Kaszuba writes as part of the push for a new stadium, the Vikings “want the public's share of any team sale to be based on the profit, not the overall sale price.” The slight wording change, “buried deep in the Vikings' 70-page public subsidy stadium proposal, could mean $100 million or more” for team Owner Zygi Wilf. Metropolitan Sports Facilities Commissioner Chair Ted Mondale said the Vikings' clause regarding the public's share in a sale was "pretty close to the same language, you know, that [Twins Owners] the Pohlads struck." Mondale also said that the change, “which the Vikings requested, was made in part to recognize that Wilf had paid substantially more for the Vikings than Pohlad paid for the Twins” (Minneapolis STAR TRIBUNE, 3/21).
CHEERS AND BEERS: In Houston, Erin Mulvaney noted the MLS Dynamo have been playing games at the Univ. of Houston’s Robertson Stadium “in the past and have always allowed tailgating prior to games.” However, fans “won’t have the same luxury at the Dynamo’s new stadium because [of] a quirk in the city ordinances.” One city ordinance “prohibits an open container or public consumption of alcohol within the central business district,” in which the new BBVA Compass Stadium is located. Mayor Annise Parker and city council members “are working to give soccer fans the same privileges as Texans fans.” The Houston City Council “will consider a proposal this week that would create room in the ordinance for property owned or operated by a sports team to allow open containers and alcohol on the property.” If approved, the proposal “would clear the way for tailgating" at BBVA Compass Stadium, Toyota Center and Minute Maid Park (CHRON.com, 3/20).
WALKING IN MEMPHIS: In Memphis, Kyle Veazey reports a plan to make improvements to Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium “has been delayed.” City Council member Reid Hedgepeth via e-mail said that he “would hold the proposal for two more weeks.” He “originally planned to make the proposal at Tuesday's full council meeting.” Hedgepeth had told the committee on March 6 that the “city and the stadium's tenants would need to work quickly to get the improvements done in time for the Sept. 1 start" of the Univ. of Memphis' football season. The improvements “would still have plenty of time to take place before the 2013 season, but Hedgepeth's urgency was based on trying to get them done in time for this season -- especially the video boards, which would take months to build” (Memphis COMMERCIAL APPEAL, 3/21).
