NEWS TRIBUNE
The Minnesota Vikings say their season opener against the Atlanta Falcons at noon Sept. 9 is in danger of being blacked out on television because of slow ticket sales.
Team officials told the Star Tribune that their 10-year sellout streak at the Metrodome will end if they don't sell 5,800 tickets by noon on Sept. 6. If the tickets aren't sold, National Football League rules prohibit the game from being televised in the Twin Cities and many other areas around Minnesota.
In Duluth, KQDS Fox21 plans on carrying the game, even if it is blacked out in the Twin Cities, station office manager Kelly Levandowski said.
Steve LaCroix, the Vikings' vice president of sales and marketing, says selling the remaining tickets will be a challenge but isn't insurmountable.
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The last blackout of a Vikings' game was on Dec. 21, 1997. Since then, the Vikings have sold out 96 straight home games, including those in the preseason.
