Back in 2005, the Minnesota Vikings were sold to the Wilf family by former owner Red McCombs for a reported $600 million price tag. For a team in a small market with one of the worst stadiums in the NFL, that was considered a pretty hefty price tag.
Oct 7, 2012; Minneapolis, MN, USA; Minnesota Vikings owner Zygi Wilf looks to the stands during the game with the Tennessee Titans at the Metrodome. The Vikings win 30-7. Mandatory Credit: Bruce Kluckhohn-USA TODAY Sports
In 2012, Forbes estimated that the franchise was worth approximately $975 million. That value placed them as the 22nd most valuable team in the NFL.
Today, the value of the Minnesota Vikings has broken the one billion dollar mark. Forbes reported that the team currently has a value of $1.007 billion dollars.
There are many contributing factors to this drastic increase in revenue. Here are a handful of them:
The New Stadium
- One of the major reasons the Minnesota Vikings were valued so low compared to other teams was their lack of a state of the art facility to host their games. Although the team has to play outdoors for the next two years, after that they will move into a new billion dollar stadium that was finally approved in 2012.
Marketable Players
- In 2007, it would have been hard to imagine Adrian Peterson becoming the huge franchise player that he is today. He, along with others like Brett Favre, Percy Harvin and others over the years have really helped the Minnesota Vikings as far as merchandise over the years. Youngsters like Cordarrelle Patterson and Teddy Bridgewater also give hope to the future of the team’s merchandise.
Security From Relocation
- Prior to the new stadium being approved, there were rumblings about the Minnesota Vikings possibly being sold to an owner in a different city. Now that the new stadium is in place and the owners seem to have no intention whatsoever of relocating, that fear is no long there.
Revenues Are High
- In 2012, the Vikings brought in $234 million according to Forbes and had an operating income of $28 million.
Things continue to look up for this Vikings team after bringing in a new head coach, offensive coordinator and defensive coordinator as well as a new stadium in the works. Despite struggles in the past, it looks like a good time to be the Minnesota Vikings.