The Vikings hope to reduce congestion by requiring tickets to attend any of the open practicesVIKINGS
The Vikings on Wednesday begin training camp at their new practice facility in Eagan, and the neighborhood is "taking a wait-and-see approach" to the "traffic and noise that will come with it," according to Nick Ferraro of the ST. PAUL PIONEER PRESS. Eagan Convention & Visitors Bureau President & CEO Brent Cory said the city’s hospitality community “plans to roll out the purple carpet." The past 52 Vikings training camps were at Minnesota State Univ.-Mankato, which in "recent years had about 60,000 people attending." This year, the Vikings "hope to reduce congestion by requiring tickets -- most of which are free -- to attend any of the open practices, and capping fan attendance at 5,000 a day, or 90,000 during the 18 days of camp." Vikings Exec VP/Public Affairs Lester Bagley said that about 75,000 tickets "are gone." Bagley on the daily cap said, “That’s a modest number. We can probably get more in there, and as we evolve into the next year or two we probably will grow that." Meanwhile, Cory said that the five-person staff at the CVB has been "ramping up its promotions and marketing efforts to attract out-of-town fans to Eagan and keep them there." Cory said that to lure football fans to Eagan beyond training camp, they plan to "run eight-second in-game spots with the Vikings Radio Network, which has 70 affiliates in the five-state area." Cory: "It’s a big buy, about a $70,000 investment. But we think it’s going to be worthwhile just because it’s such a captive audience. We want to be known as the home of the Minnesota Vikings" (ST. PAUL PIONEER PRESS, 7/22).
NEW DEN? In Charlotte, Joseph Person notes Panthers Owner David Tepper has "not specifically addressed" the team's future at Wofford College in Spartanburg, S.C., where it has held training camps every summer since '95. But given his comments about the "need for a new practice facility and accompanying mixed-use development, it’s not a stretch to think Tepper would hold training camp at the new complex." The Panthers’ agreement with Wofford runs through '19. Even if the team had an "interest in breaking the agreement early, construction of the new facility would almost certainly take longer than that." Fewer NFL teams are "choosing to go away for training camp." This year, 21 of the 32 teams will "stay home for camp," compared with just nine in '01. An estimated 100,000 fans "attended Panthers camp last summer, the second-highest total in the team’s 23 years in Spartanburg." More than 135,000 fans "came out" in '16 following the Panthers’ run to Super Bowl 50 (CHARLOTTE OBSERVER, 7/23).
