Vikings Hope New Stadium, Eagan Facility Takes Franchise To Next Level
EAGAN, Minn. (WCCO) -- It's nice, but will it help them win games?
Those are the questions for football people to contemplate with a new stadium and now breaking ground on a new practice facility in Eagan. As Mike Max reports, the Vikings hope it takes them to another level on Sundays.
With a group of dignitaries and Vikings players enduring the heat, they unveiled the latest in an ongoing series of Vikings openings.
"We have the best stadium in the NFL and within two years we'll have the best practice facility in the National Football League," Lester Bagley with the Vikings said.
Things have changed over the years. Winter Park is now considered outdated and before that...
"We didn't have a weight room at the old Met, what we had was a universal gym," Bob Lurtsema said.
For a team trying to win games, they have eliminated the barrier of facilities.
"To say we got a new home at U.S. Bank Stadium and we're going to open up our season down there and in the spring of '18 to come out here and show them the training facility, it's going to be a hard thing for players to turn down," Vikings General Manager Rick Spielman said.
What you really realize with the building of a new stadium and as they continue to move dirt on the practice facility is how much farther the Vikings are ahead of everybody else in town. In a sports-crazed market, they stand alone and they've just furthered that in 2016.
Tuesday's groundbreaking was just more evidence.
"I think it just continually propels it to greatness. It's like moving into a new home. It becomes a special opportunity to be able to build this," Kevin Warren with the Vikings said.