NASL club Minnesota United FC Owner Bill McGuire "in his first lengthy comments on his competition with the Vikings" to bring MLS to Minnesota, "left open the possibility of seeking government help to build his own soccer stadium and cast doubt on whether he and the Wilf family would join together on a team," according to Mike Kaszuba of the Minneapolis STAR TRIBUNE. He said that T'Wolves Owner Glen Taylor and the Pohlad family, which owns the Twins, "were now providing him with unspecified help and seemed to 'like the concept of what we’re doing.'" The Vikings recently "seemed to be gaining momentum by unveiling how their stadium, set to open in 2016, would be reconfigured for soccer and lobbying local soccer enthusiasts for support." But McGuire said that he "supports a separate outdoor stadium." However, he added, that "no location had been chosen." Kaszuba notes the Vikings "have an exclusive five-year window at the stadium to lure" an MLS franchise, but the "high-stakes competition for an MLS team involving some of Minnesota’s wealthiest sports team owners has complicated a bidding process many initially thought the Vikings were well-positioned for." McGuire said of wanting possible public subsidies for a soccer-specific stadium, "There’s no formal ‘ask’ out there." Kaszuba writes that topic is "a touchy political point given the recent controversies over the successful pushes for public money for the Twins’ Target Field and the new Vikings stadium." McGuire "was vague on when details of his plan would be made public." He said, “I don’t know -- I think when we decide that it is appropriate and feasible" (Minneapolis STAR TRIBUNE, 12/18).
