If the Vikings Reach the Super Bowl, They’ll be the Away Team (Kind of)…

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Jan 5, 2018

As of Thursday, Super Bowl LII was exactly one month away. In regards to event accommodations, the NFL is apparently placing demand after demand on the city of Minneapolis. From a Minnesotan’s perspective, how much the pros of hosting the big event will outweigh the cons remains to be seen.

However, if the Vikings make it to the Puppy Bowl Postgame Show, the advantages associated with playing at U.S. Bank should make any road closure headaches worth it 10X over.

Whichever team represents the NFC on February 4th will “technically” be the away team. Unless you’re extremely superstitious about calling the coin toss, the assignment of home and away teams for Super Bowl Sunday is just a formality. In the event Minnesota doesn’t advance to February football, the two finalists will basically be playing at a neutral site, under neutral circumstances.

We are all well aware that if Mike Zimmer’s team wins their next two games, they’ll become the first team to play in a Super Bowl as the host. Here are some perks associated with that scenario:

  • Leading up to the event, MN would practice at their normal location in Eden Prairie. The AFC Champion would prepare at the U of M’s facilities. (Currently it is scheduled the opposite for AFC/NFC participants)
  • Rather than staying at the Radison Blu (Mall of America), as other NFC teams would, Vikings’ players and coaches may have the option of staying at their own homes. 
  • On game day, the Purple would be in their normal, home locker room. (Again, scheduled to be the opposite)
  • Super Bowl tickets are expensive enough. Skol Nation would have the ability to eliminate ALL OTHER travel expenses associated with attending the big game. So, rather than a divided crowd, the majority would be supporting the Purple.     

A Mount Rushmore of positives for the players, coaches, staff, and us fans. And what else? We need ALL WHO CAN AFFORD IT, to buy up the secondary market in a situation like this. If this dream were to come true, it would be the first time ever. Possibly the last. If you can afford to shell out multiple thousands of dollars for a ticket, you should do it. If enough people would, it would literally be contributing to a possible win. A possible SUPER BOWL win… Alright, so this is our dream. But, in this perfect dream, not ALL accommodations can be expected…

Sending number 84 out their to blow The Gjallarhorn before kickoff? It’s unfortunate, but probably not. It looks like that, along with most team-run pregame rituals, WON’T be allowed. The NFL lets us do that and we’ll kick anyone’s ass by twenty points. With NFL ratings already down, the league can’t afford a blowout. I don’t know if Joe Buck is calling the game, but if so, he would probably call Moss’ blowing of the horn, a disgusting act, or something anyway. We wouldn’t want to take away from the moment.

The dragon ship during player announcements and encouraging fans to get loud on opponents third downs will also, most likely, NOT be allowed.

That’s fair. We’ll take what we can get. The stiffs in suits at the NFL offices need to take the same approach. Within reason, Minnesota will accommodate your needs. However, in no way can we just fold to absurd demands that aren’t in any contracts. At this stage, the Land of 10K Lakes has ALL of the leverage in negotiations. What are they going to do? Move the game? Ya, ok.

In conclusion, being the first team to host a Super Bowl would be a nice benefit. It wouldn’t make the game a lock by any means, but it definitely wouldn’t hurt. If the stars do align, I’d love to hear opposing fans complaining about feeling like their team is in a road environment. The response to them would be simple:

  • Timing is everything.
  • The taxpayers of Minnesota paid for the massive building that is U.S. Bank Stadium. Skol Nation considers this as a dividend.

Johnny Minnesota @TheJohnnyMN
Minnesota Sports Fan MinnesotaSportsFan.com

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