A dramatic belt-tightening by the Vikings from 2025 to 2026, with player spending plummeting from $350 million to $226 million, has sparked speculation that the team could be for sale. The topic made it to the pages of the St. Paul Pioneer Press, in a column from Charley Walters.
Per a source with knowledge of the situation, team owners Mark and Zygi Wilf are not selling the team.
The column from Walters didn’t make a compelling case, frankly, that a sale could be in the offing. The simpler explanation is that the Vikings went all in last year from a cash standpoint, and that they now need to pull back from a cap standpoint.
The Wilfs purchased the team in 2005 from the late Red McCombs for $600 million. A sale would easily generate at least 10 times that amount.
Even if the Wilfs or any other current owner were contemplating cashing out, the league would likely encourage them to wait until after the Seahawks are sold. Rarely, if ever, are two teams for sale simultaneously. It’s better for the NFL to have only one team available at a time — and to not minimize the availability of the franchises. That preserves the rarity of the assets, pushing the number higher and higher.
Anyone with the money can buy a superyacht. There are only 32 NFL teams. It’s an exclusive club. And the Wilfs currently aren’t looking to leave it.
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