"The NFL team had decided it was time for a new stadium to replace its outmoded downtown domed arena, and agreed to a public-private deal to build on the dome's footprint. In the meantime, it proposed to play at the stadium of the large university nearby. The school agreed, and a deal was struck.

A future scenario for the Vikings and the University of Minnesota? Maybe. But it actually happened to the Seattle Seahawks and the University of Washington in 1999, when the Pac-10 school let the Seahawks move to Husky Stadium for two seasons in a deal that both sides said worked out well.

With the Metrodome site picking up momentum as the potential location for their next home, Vikings officials are figuring out how and where the team could play during the two to three years it will take to build a new stadium.

One idea is to build next door to the Dome, which would allow the Vikings to play there until the new stadium was ready. The team says Star Tribune property adjoining the Dome is too narrow to build on, but it hasn't ruled out an area southeast of the Dome that contains an office building and Xcel Energy substation.

For now, team officials assume they would build where the Dome stands. Which is why they and U officials are talking about how to turn cozy, collegiate TCF Bank Stadium into an NFL arena.

The Vikings estimate that moving to the U for three seasons will cost $48 million. The biggest problem is that TCF has 14,000 fewer seats than the Dome, which would squeeze out thousands of season-ticket holders. The university stadium would need to be winterized for the frigid months when the Gophers don't play but the Vikings do.

Even worse, the university prohibits beer sales there.

Asked whether the NFL was reluctant to have the team play at TCF, Vikings vice president of stadium development Lester Bagley said: "It's not ideal for anyone, including the NFL, fans, the Vikings, visiting teams, the university.""