True to the form we've come to expect from entities such as NFL ownership groups, the Minnesota Vikings announced on Sunday that they have committed to play a 2013 home game in London. For the uninitiated, that was a voluntary decision.
The Vikings' decision to play in London will mean at least two things. First, it will mean that the local fans and local businesses--the bulk of the support for the Vikings' publicly funded new stadium--will lose a game. No doubt, however, the Vikings will find some way to recapture the "lost" revenue.
Playing overseas next year also ensures the Vikings a tidy NFL payout--a guarantee likely to exceed what the Vikings would have made had the team merely honored its commitment to play in Minnesota.
Rest assured, the Vikings are already in spin mode on this, sending out missives to the effect that, without a lease agreement for next year, the team is both free to play elsewhere in 2013 and that the team must protect its interests. Rational fans and members of the public will see that for the canard that it is. Members of the local media--still vested in everything purple--will certainly come to the Vikings' defense.
The Vikings pitched a stadium deal employing a marketing theme centering on the notion that the team and the community were intertwined. It appears that that sentiment was exactly as it objectively appeared to be at the time--a one-sided marketing ploy. Never mind the good faith presumptions of such dealings--such legalities were intended for those paying, not those receiving.
Nothing says bend over and grab your ankles quite like NFL ownership groups. And as long as the fans buy into the bit, the demands will increase and the money will continue to flow out with less and less received in return.
Up Next: Vikings Sitting on Salary Cap Cash.
The Vikings' decision to play in London will mean at least two things. First, it will mean that the local fans and local businesses--the bulk of the support for the Vikings' publicly funded new stadium--will lose a game. No doubt, however, the Vikings will find some way to recapture the "lost" revenue.
Playing overseas next year also ensures the Vikings a tidy NFL payout--a guarantee likely to exceed what the Vikings would have made had the team merely honored its commitment to play in Minnesota.
Rest assured, the Vikings are already in spin mode on this, sending out missives to the effect that, without a lease agreement for next year, the team is both free to play elsewhere in 2013 and that the team must protect its interests. Rational fans and members of the public will see that for the canard that it is. Members of the local media--still vested in everything purple--will certainly come to the Vikings' defense.
The Vikings pitched a stadium deal employing a marketing theme centering on the notion that the team and the community were intertwined. It appears that that sentiment was exactly as it objectively appeared to be at the time--a one-sided marketing ploy. Never mind the good faith presumptions of such dealings--such legalities were intended for those paying, not those receiving.
Nothing says bend over and grab your ankles quite like NFL ownership groups. And as long as the fans buy into the bit, the demands will increase and the money will continue to flow out with less and less received in return.
Up Next: Vikings Sitting on Salary Cap Cash.
2 comments:
Keep pooping in the punch, VG.
Sorry, Peter, it's not my excrement or my punch--I'm just trying to keep it marginally drinkable.
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