Some of the European fans over for the Ryder Cup in Minnesota last weekend hung around long enough to catch the Vikings beat the Giants at U.S. Bank Stadium.
Among them was Oliver Holt, the chief sports writer for the Daily Mail newspaper, who was so impressed by the stadium that this weekend he dedicated an entire column to it.
He holds the Vikings’ new home up as an example of how to get new stadiums right, as opposed to British soccer team West Ham, which has struggled since moving this past summer into the (also partially taxpayer funded) Olympic Stadium in London.
The reason the Vikings got it right, he says, is that it honors the team’s past and culture, making sure there was enough familiar about the stadium – such as the new Gjallarhorn and the locally-based food stands – to ensure continuity.
“The Vikings are an example of how to manage a stadium move in precisely the way that West Ham are not,” Holt writes. “The Vikings sought continuity in their move. They sought to honour the memory of the past and respect the culture of the team.”
“It is a temple to the state’s NFL team, a place its supporters can be proud of, a place that plays on its regional identity,” he added.
In contrast, he says, West Ham’s owners talked about the move to the new stadium in the sense of it being a “rebranding,” which he argues makes it seem as though “they’re almost embarrassed about their past.”
You can read the full piece here.
