Vikings owners pass on meeting with Roski

The owners of the Minnesota Vikings have been invited to meet with real estate developer Ed Roski Jr. to discuss moving the team to Los Angeles but to this point they’ve passed.

Lester Bagley, Vikings vice president of public affairs, told the Minneapolis Star Tribune that the team’s intention “is to resolve the [stadium] issue in Minnesota.”

Roski in April announced plans to build an $800 million, 75,000-seat stadium in Los Angeles with the goal of luring a team to the area. Roski’s business partner reportedly told the San Gabriel Valley Tribune that seven franchises have expressed interest in Roski’s stadium but wouldn’t list them. Roski in April apparently named seven: the Vikings, New Orleans, Buffalo, Jacksonville, San Diego, Oakland and San Francisco that would be targeted for his 600-acre plot, which would host a stadium and entertainment complex.

The Vikings have a lease at the Metrodome in Minneapolis that runs through the 2011 season. The team has been floating a $954 million stadium project that would include other pieces as well but to this point has been unable to get support from the state Legislature.

Another plan recently announced by the Metropolitan Sports Facillities Commission would re-use certain parts of the Metrodome and cut about $!00 million off of the cost of a new facility.