Vikings Looking To Host Another Super Bowl
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) – The Vikings are pushing to host another Super Bowl at U.S. Bank Stadium. They've submitted an official "expression of interest" to the NFL for the years 2028, 29 or 30.
The Vikings also applied to host the NFL Draft in the near future – in 2024, 2025 or 2026.
Lester Bagley, Vikings executive vice president, said, to be clear, this is not a bid – that wouldn't come until much further down the road. This is just the first formal step in a years-long lobbying process.
"We basically threw our hat in the ring. We're engaged with the NFL in making sure that these major league events rotate around the country," Bagley said.
Any update, however, if there even is one, likely wouldn't happen for quite some time – the NFL is still working on drafts and Super Bowls several years earlier. There will also be stiff competition – 13 other cities have put in for the draft alone.
"We know we'll have to lobby hard for it like we did last time, but it's not out of the question," Bagley said.
When Super Bowl LII came to U.S. Bank Stadium in 2018, it brought in $370 million and made downtown Minneapolis an international hot spot, despite snow and frigid temperatures.
The promise of a Super Bowl was one of the driving factors in public funding of U.S. Bank Stadium. Other large events to take place at the stadium have included the X Games and the Final Four.
The first Super Bowl to be hosted in Minneapolis was in 1992. The halftime show, "Winter Magic," in the Metrodome was such a colossal embarrassment to the NFL that it prompted the league to start booking music superstars. The next year, Michael Jackson performed.