The optimism for a new stadium in Minnesota might be premature. (Getty Images)

By Will Brinson

On Sunday night, a report emerged that the Vikings were close to a new stadium deal in Minnesota.  The celebration of that Christmas miracle appears to have been premature.

That's because on Monday, the Vikings specifically denied the report from Sports Illustrated's Peter King about a potential new deal.

The Vikings and L.A.

Vikings still on track not to move Minnesota still trying to figure out stadium cost Vikings execs meet with LA stadium group AEG targets MORE than five teams Jax owners says his team is staying put

"The Vikings took note of Peter King's optimism last night and today about the prospects for a new stadium," Vikings spokesman Jeff Anderson tweeted on Monday afternoon. "While we continue to work hard on a stadium solution in Minnesota, there is no agreement imminent. The lease expires after the season, we are encouraged by positive discussions and we remain hopeful a resolution will be reached in Minnesota."

It's a bit surprising to see the Vikings go straight at King's report, but it's certainly not surprising to see plenty of public leverage being thrown around by the sides on this stadium issue.

We saw this recently when the Vikings told Congress that two "mystery cities" emerged as possible destinations for the team and we're probably seeing it now, as optimism about a stadium deal getting done could put a damper on any leverage that the team has in negotiating a new deal.

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By Will Brinson

There's nothing more intriguing than when the dreaded "mystery team" enters the race to acquire a free agent (see: the race for Nnamdi Asomugha and now Albert Pujols on the MLB side). But what about when a "mystery city" makes a run at an NFL team?

It's happening with the Vikings, according to Vikes vice president of stadium development and public affairs Lester Bagley, who told legislators on Tuesday that another city (besides Los Angeles) contacted the team about leaving Minnesota.

"We would let that city speak for themselves," said Bagley, per the Minnesota Star-Tribune.  "I don't think it's our place to say who it is."

Bagley, who was meeting with legislators to discuss a new, publicly-funded stadium for the team, said that the city contacted the Vikings within the last year.

A quick glance at the biggest markets in the United States (thanks Wikipedia!) doesn't show a whole lot of options for the Vikings, who reside in the 16th biggest market right now. Los Angeles is the second-biggest market, and the next closest is the Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario market, but that's basically L.A.

Below Minnesota on the list of markets without an NFL team are Portland, Sacramento, San Jose and Las Vegas. Those cities probably wouldn't work for a variety of reasons (fan support, gambling being illegal), although Portland could potentially make sense, especially given its proximity to Nike and the presence/success of an NBA team already.

The biggest likelihood, in my mind, is that the city that contacted the Vikings about the opening either a) is a city worried about its current NFL team leaving (Jacksonville, St. Louis, San Diego, etc) or b) is a city that's very near to Los Angeles and/or Minneapolis, and one that probably doesn't count as a "second city" in the truest sense, or c) is "a city" that contacted the Vikings to inflate the perceived interest in Minnesota's franchise and crank up the pressure on the locals to get a new stadium deal done.

Edit: Not only did I neglect the wonderful city of San Antonio (25th on the largest-market list) but I also forgot add option (d): that either city is outside of America, in the case of London or Toronto.

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