NEWS CATEGORIES

North Dakota’s love-affair with the Vikings

November 14, 2011

MINNEAPOLIS – Much of Brady Torgerson’s fall and winter revolves around the Minnesota Vikings, so forgive the Bismarck resident for inserting himself into the debate over a possible new stadium for the team.

Recently, he sent a letter to North Dakota and Minnesota political leaders with a “sort of tongue-in-cheek” suggestion, as he called it, for North Dakota to tap into its vast reserve of oil money and offer a loan to Minnesota to build a new facility that would keep the NFL franchise in the Twin Cities long term.

(Photo by Tim Flagstad) Brady and Kayla Torgerson, of Bismarck, go to about six Minnesota Vikings games every season. They are shown just before the Vikings home game against the Green Bay Packers on Oct. 23.

Brady and his family have had season tickets to the Vikings for nine years, and even though it means making an 850-mile drive roundtrip along Interstate 94 eight times a season – more if Minnesota hosts a playoff game – he can’t imagine an NFL season without the Vikings.

“We love the Vikings,” Brady said before the Vikings hosted the rival Green Bay Packers on Oct. 23. “I live, breathe and sleep football, so it doesn’t matter if they’re winning or not. We still love to come down and watch the games.”

Brady, his wife, Kayla, and the rest of the family aren’t alone in their devotion to the purple and gold. With no big-league sports team or major Division I athletic program to call their own, North Dakotans must turn somewhere for their sports fix.

This season, 260 Vikings season-ticket holders call North Dakota home, which doesn’t account for single-game ticket sales. Walk around the Metrodome or downtown Minneapolis on game day, and chances of spotting a familiar face are good.

“It says a lot about the fans that come from 100, 200, 300 miles away when they’re spending money on gas and possibly overnight lodging,” Dannon Hulskotter, the Vikings’ director of marketing and business development, said in a phone interview. “I can tell you we’re thankful to have those types of fans.”

For the Torgersons, a Vikings home weekend starts often before the sun rises Saturday morning, so they can make it to Minneapolis at a decent time Saturday afternoon. Then, they attend the game Sunday, hop in their car and head back west immediately after. Monday morning, Brady returns to his job at First State Bank of Wilton and Kayla at Bismarck engineering firm Kadrmas, Lee and Jackson.

It’s a voyage they don’t think twice about making multiple times each season regardless of the weather. This year, Brady plans on attending six of the eight home games.

“There’s been games where it’s been pouring rain after the game, and you walk back to the car and are soaked. You have to ride all the way home soaking wet,” Kayla said. “I’m probably pretty tired at work (on Monday), but I love the Vikings, and he loves the Vikings.”

Originally from Sidney, Mont., the Torgersons have a shorter trip to the Metrodome than they used to. On this Sunday, Brady and Kayla were joined by Brady’s mom, dad, sister and grandpa from Sidney.

“Those are the types of avid fans all franchises need,” Hulskotter said.

Especially for a franchise like the Vikings.

By NFL standards, the Minneapolis-St. Paul metropolitan area is relatively small. The Vikings’ primary television market ranks 15th out of the 32 NFL teams. With a multitude of other entertainment options in the area, such as University of Minnesota athletics, the other pro sports teams in town and all the theaters and live music venues, the Vikings rely on out-of-area fans to fill up the stadium for each home game.

The Dakotas combine to make up 5 percent of the team’s season-ticket base–a small but significant chunk. Those who can’t make the trip to the Twin Cities show their support by planting in front of their televisions for the games.

In the Bismarck-Mandan market, Vikings games this season routinely have gained a 14 rating, making them one of the third-most watched programs in the cities along with “NCIS” and “Biggest Loser,” noted Kim Simonsen, director of media services at Fargo-based advertising agency H2M. By comparison, local newscasts generally pull in ratings of 10 to 12.

“I sometimes really pinch myself when I hear certain stories (of fans),” Hulskotter said. “The power of the tradition and history of the Vikings means so much to so many fans.”

Brady certainly is in that group. Growing up, he remembers hearing his grandfather tell stories of going to Vikings games at the old Metropolitan Stadium in Bloomington, Minn. There was no way he was going to be anything but a Vikings fans.

He quickly shoots down any notion that any future children he and Kayla have will become anything but Vikings backers.

“It won’t happen,” Brady said.

Added Kayla: “Our dogs have Vikings collars and Vikings jerseys, so there’s no way our kids will be anything else.”

-Tim Flagstad is a freelance sports writer for the Great Plains Examiner.