Commentary; Posted: 10/8/03

Need for sports stadiums on the rise

By Don Heinzman

The value of sports is in the spotlight this week, with all the professional teams and university teams off to a fast start. Thereís nothing like a Twins-Yankees series to take your mind off Afghanistan, Iraq and a sputtering economy.

A scoring pass from Gus Frerotte or Dante Culpepper to a streaking Randy Moss makes one proud to be a Viking fan.

Friday nights become special for high school students as they cheer their high school athletes. High school principals will say that a winning sports team makes it easier to run the school.

While some may bemoan how early little boys and girls start skating, kicking the soccer ball and catching a football, they occupy the entire family with many fathers and mothers doing the coaching, score-keeping and providing the after-game refreshments.

No doubt professional athletes make too much money and high school stars get too much attention, but sports has its place as a good pasttime, as a body builder, as a spirit builder and as an economy developer.

Sports is dynamic.

Anoka County never had so much attention and letters from builders and developers, since it began to negotiate with the Minnesota Vikings for a new multi-purpose complex in Blaine.

If the county doesnít get the stadium, it will have reaped thousands of dollars of publicity and put that location on the map.

Early in the city of Bloomingtonís development of the location of Metropolitan Stadium at the corner of I-494 and Cedar Avenue brought world-wide attention as it became the home of the Vikings and the Twins. The airport, the stadium and two major freeways intersecting led to the building of the strip of hotels and restaurants.

At the time, the city of Minneapolis could not stand having the stadium in Bloomington, and a commission dominated by figures from Minneapolis voted to move it.

Make no mistake about it, having professional sports teams: Vikings, Twins, Wild, Timberwolves, Saints, Thunder and Lynx make this Twin Cities Metropolitan Area a more dynamic market place.

The loss of the Minnesota North Stars hockey team to Dallas, TX, however, illustrates just how fast a professional team can disappear.

Not until new ownership succeeded in getting the Xcel Energy Center built, was St. Paul able to land a National Hockey League franchise.

Minnesotans must realize that professional sports owners believe they need a high-tech, top-of-the line sports stadium to make money. They no doubt will contribute to the building of such a stadium, because it makes their franchise more valuable.

The stateís residents are coming to believe that the Metrodome is not a good baseball venue. It was built as a football stadium. A new stadium will require a funding package of private and some public funds.

One favored plan is to use funds from a state-operated racino at Canterbury Park to help fund new sports stadiums. This possibility is still on the front burner of political thought.

As these professional sports and college sports teams continue to win, more support for building a new stadium, even with some public funding, is developing.

Now, fans need to let their legislators know they want them to step up to the plate and find a way to build a new baseball stadium and eventually one for football.

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