The possibility that NASL club Minnesota United Owner Bill McGuire "can outmaneuver" Vikings Owner Zygi Wilf in the race to land an MLS expansion franchise in Minneapolis "is running into difficulty," according to Kaszuba & Painter of the Minneapolis STAR TRIBUNE. McGuire is teaming on the bid with the Pohlad family, which owns the Twins, and "is looking at sites and uses, including a soccer stadium just west of Target Field." McGuire's group, which also includes T'Wolves Owner Glen Taylor, has "met with Bloomington’s mayor to discuss property near the Mall of America." However, Wilf "has a five-year exclusive window to bring an MLS team" to the Vikings' new downtown stadium. Minneapolis City Council President Barb Johnson said that with the city "helping to finance the Vikings stadium, she would look unfavorably at a plan to build a separate soccer stadium in downtown Minneapolis." Kaszuba & Painter write building a new Vikings stadium and "not having a professional soccer team playing there would subtract at least $340,000 annually from the stadium’s projected revenues," a figure that would increase 3% a year. Minnesota Sports Facilities Authority Chair Michele Kelm-Helgen said, "We are relying on this revenue." Kaszuba & Painter note it is "unclear whether McGuire’s group would seek a local government partner, let alone public subsidies, for the project." Attorney Ralph Strangis, who "has represented the Twins and is representing McGuire, has reportedly been hosting meetings on McGuire’s franchise bid." The Vikings "have downplayed for now the notion that Wilf and McGuire could eventually team up for a franchise, saying the Vikings and McGuire are not in communication" (Minneapolis STAR TRIBUNE, 10/31).
