Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty and state legislative leaders made it all but official yesterday: There will be no Vikings stadium bill in 2008. “We’ve got other priorities right now,” said Pawlenty, while state house speaker Margaret Anderson Kelliher called a stadium-finance bill “highly unlikely” with Minnesota facing a $373 million deficit.
Of course, given that Vikes owner Zygi Wilf had all but called off his stadium push for a year after the I-35 bridge collapse this past summer, this should come as news to pretty much no one. Besides, just because there’s no stadium bill doesn’t mean the lobbying has to go on hiatus – just look at NFL VP Eric Grubman, who even while acknowledging to the Minneapolis Star Tribune that fast action was unlikely, not-so-obliquely warned of the dangers of waiting too long:
“What we’re faced with is that this is the best time to build and it’s not going to get any better. All that will happen as we get closer to the expiration of the lease is that speculation will erupt and outside parties will attempt to introduce themselves. So the NFL wants to make all of our 32 teams as successful as they can be in their home markets. We think that benefits everyone.”
Spoken like a true Vercotti brother.