Shakopee Adds Itself to List of Viking Stadium Sites

There’s a new contestant entering the Vikings Stadium Battle Royale. Shakopee, Minnesota has drawn up a proposal and will submit it ahead of Mark Dayton’s Friday deadline. That brings the total of contending sites to 5. You’ve got Arden Hills, Metrodome, Basilica, Farmer’s Market and now Shakopee. There are probably others but I don’t remember them off the top of my head.

Interestingly enough, the Shakopee mayor responsible for submitting this proposal has only been on the job for one week. Talk about making a splash. Any other new mayors out there looking for some cheap publicity? Just draw up a Vikings stadium proposal. But perhaps I’m being too dismissive of the Shakopee plan. It may be a late entrant but that doesn’t make it not legit. The proposal sure sounds attractive.

Quoting mayor Brad Tabke’s release:

"The Vikings clearly want a site with options, and the Shakopee site provides that. There is room for a 75,000 seat stadium and 22,000 tailgaters. Land is also available next to the proposed site that has lake access, park access and more."

Ooh, a lake near the stadium. So you can go straight from drinking yourself sick to skinny dipping. And then you can head to Canterbury Park and lose your remaining money gambling. And then the gambling money can go back into paying for the stadium, etc., It’s all a big circle, see?

So how viable is this Shakopee option? Clearly it can’t just be dismissed. At least two politicians have already expressed enthusiasm for it (for what that’s worth). The price tag on it would be $920 million, less than the Arden Hills site. That should make legislators happy. The part about accommodating 22,000 tailgaters should make Zygi Wilf and drunks happy. The Vikings not having to play 3 years in TCF Bank Stadium should make everyone happy.

And what would make me happy? Not having to talk about this crap anymore. Shakopee it is.

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