Vikings Will Play 2013 London Game Against Steelers

Oct 7, 2012; Minneapolis, MN, USA; Minnesota Vikings running back Adrian Peterson (28) comes onto the field to start the game with the Tennessee Titans at the Metrodome. The Vikings win 30-7. Mandatory Credit: Bruce Kluckhohn-US PRESSWIRE

We’ve known for a few days that the Vikings will be playing a home-away-from-home game at Wembley Stadium in London in 2013. What we didn’t know was the opponent. Now we have that information too. It will be the Steelers. The NFL is expected to officially announce the game some time on Tuesday.

The game will be played in September and will replace one Metrodome game on the Vikings’ schedule. The Vikes are also expected to play London games the following couple of years while the team is temporarily relocated to TCF Bank Stadium so the Dome can be torn down and replaced with a new state-of-the-art facility.

Reactions have been mixed regarding the London news. Fans it seems would rather have that game at the Dome so they can actually attend it without having to fly 15,000 miles or however far it is. Surely Twin Cities business are not happy about the removal of a home game from the schedule. It seems the only people who are really happy about this news are the NFL folks who love finding new revenue sources. But how do the Brits feel about having American football on their soil? How popular is the game over there? Can it catch on well enough for a permanent London franchise to be feasible?

The Vikes are now officially guinea pigs in the whole London NFL experiment. And loyal Minnesota-based fans are feeling a bit abused.

Like The Viking Age on Facebook.
Follow Dan Zinski on Twitter.
Get the all-new FanSided iPhone app.
Want to blog about the Vikings? Fill out the blogger application and join the team. Serious homers, negative types, tape wonks and general wack-jobs all welcome.