Minnesota Vikings Stadium Deal: The 3 Biggest Winners and Losers

Jump for joy, Minnesotans. Or don't. Either way the Minnesota Vikings are remaining in the Twin Cities and there's certainly a mix of emotions regarding the finalized decision.

According to the Associated Press via ESPN, the Vikings got their new stadium amid controversy:

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The Vikings stadium deal that Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton signed into law Monday involves plenty of public participation, but it also prevents the public from getting a look at the team's finances during their partnership to build the $975 million stadium.

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With that, let's take a look at three winners and three losers emerging in the aftermath of the deal.

Winners

Fans

Die-hard Vikings fans get to see their favorite team remain and avoid feeling how Baltimore fans felt in 1984, or how Cleveland fans felt in 1996.

This upcoming season, it's reasonable to suspect even more fan support in Minnesota (i.e. higher attendance and sales) since the Vikings are remaining.

Lest we forget, Minneapolis already had its Lakers basketball team move to Los Angeles (back in the early 1960s), so keeping the Vikings around is a big win for football fans.

Organization

The team is getting a new stadium and the organization gets to remain in the city it's played in for over 50 years.

Instead of having to move, a new state-of-the-art facility won't be as much of a hassle, and the rivalries with NFC North opponents remain intact. The storied franchise remains where it belongs and the families of everyone in the organization can breathe a sigh of relief.

Contractor(s)

As sourced above in the introduction, the Vikings' new stadium is going to cost almost one billion dollars. Regardless of who is brought on to build this facility, those people are going to get paid quite well.

We're talking about a nine-digit number that's $25 million shy of being 10 digits. And in the world of professional sports, $25 million can be one year of a contract for some players.

Losers

General Public

Those who don't really follow the NFL or the Vikings, but happen to reside around the Minneapolis area, are being put in a tough situation.

For one, the cost of the new stadium alone is an aspect that reasonably causes a stir. In addition though, the general public won't see any of the financial statements according to the Associated Press:

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One provision would shield "any financial information" from the team from public eyes. Critics say the blanket protection goes beyond current state law, leaving taxpayers in the dark on one of the state's biggest public works projects.

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Those not in support of the new facility have every right to be concerned. It's one thing to get a stadium worth nearly one billion dollars, but at least provide the financials so there aren't any trust issues.

Los Angeles

As previously mentioned, Los Angeles got the Lakers from Minneapolis back in the early 1960s but America's second-largest market remains without an NFL team.

Before May rolled around, L.A. seemed like a possible destination for the Vikings, but that obviously fell through.

The city hasn't seen a pro football franchise since the 1994 season as the Raiders came and went from 1982-94. The Rams arrived in 1946 but left when Al Davis took his team back to Oakland.

Other Cities with Old Stadiums

The Metrodome is currently the ninth oldest stadium in the NFL. Then that brings us to cities with teams that may want a new stadium in the future.

One example that already has the wheels in motion is the city of San Francisco and Candlestick Park where the 49ers play. As the years pass, it wouldn't be surprising to see new stadium proposals surface between other cities and its franchises, such as Buffalo and Oakland.

John Rozum on Twitter.