Reuters

Before the Minnesota Legislature signed off on a new stadium with the Vikings, some reports indicated that the team would need to play games at TCF Bank Stadium for only part of one season. Once the deal was done and the Vikings and the University of Minnesota announced their agreement, the possibility of the Vikings using the stadium for “up to four consecutive seasons” was broached for the first time.

On Friday, team owners Zygi and Mark Wilf said in a wide-ranging interview with reporters that TCF Bank Stadium would be used for one full year, “but it very well may be two.”

Setting aside the question of why a more specific estimate can’t be provided, it’s hard not to wonder whether the Vikings subtly obscured the extent to which TCF Bank Stadium would be used. If phrases like “up to four consecutive seasons” had been used during the process of rallying support for the new venue, plenty of legislators and fans may have said something like, “Well, if you can play there for up to four consecutive seasons, why can’t you play there indefinitely?”

It would have been a fair question, but it never was asked because there was never a reason to do so.

Regardless of whether TCF Bank Stadium is used for one game or a full decade, the biggest question fans are asking is whether beer will be sold there. That issue has not yet been decided.