Vikings "Open" To More Overseas Games

Over at the National Football League's site for the United Kingdom, one of their reporters spent the last week visiting three of the four teams that will be making the trip to Wembley Stadium this upcoming season. After the now-requisite "Holy crap, Adrian Peterson's handshake nearly broke my hand" bit (something that also, apparently, applies to rookie corner Xavier Rhodes), there was this revelation from Vikings' VP Lester Bagley:

I interviewed Vice-President of Public Affairs/Stadium Development Lester Bagley and my final question focused on the potential for more Vikings games in London. He did not rule out that possibility, especially as the Vikings do not move into their new stadium until the summer of 2016. That leaves the 2014 and 2015 seasons as further opportunities for us to watch AP and his teammates in action in the UK. Bagley indicated that the Vikings wanted to see how things went in and around the 2013 game against the Pittsburgh Steelers but it was definitely a possibility for the future.

This really shouldn't come as a surprise to anybody. With the Vikings moving into TCF Bank Stadium for the 2014 and 2015 seasons, there's already the possibility that they're not going to have enough space for all the season ticket holders, never mind people that want to buy single-game tickets. That would be a serious loss for the team from a financial standpoint, particularly when they could put one of their games overseas and make up those losses.

So, it's not surprising that the Vikings would be open to the idea of playing more games overseas, be it in London or another location of the NFL's choosing. Frankly, at this point, I think I'd be more surprised if they didn't have at least one game outside of the United States in the next couple of seasons.