The Minnesota Vikings will get to spend a 50th anniversary in Mankato, Minn. The Vikings and Minnesota State University agreed to host the training camp on campus for three more years. The agreement runs through the 2015 season, which will be the 50th year the camp has been held in Mankato. This season is the Vikings' 48th in Mankato. The team is scheduled to report on Thursday, and the first practices begin Friday. The team will practice at the school until Aug. 14 before moving preseason practices to the team's facilities in Eden Prairie. Minnesota State, Mankato president Richard Davenport said he is very happy to have the team for the next three summers.
"Vikings training camp in Mankato is a Minnesota tradition, and we invite Vikings fans everywhere to come with their families to our campus and community and enjoy this wonderful and exciting preview to the Vikings season," he said in a statement released by the Vikings.
The Vikings utilize Minnesota State's facilities for training camp practices, which are open to the public, including the school's football stadium, Blakeslee Stadium and indoor track facilities, Myers Field House, during inclement weather. "Being in front of our fans for training camp is a storied team tradition," Vikings owner and president Mark Wilf said in the release. "We appreciate Minnesota State University, Mankato and the City of Mankato for continuing to welcome the team and Vikings fans, and we look forward to reaching 50 years in Mankato." While on campus, the Vikings will stay in the Julia Sears Residence Community building, which opened in 2008. The team stayed in Sears hall once before, but have primarily lived in the Gage Residence Community complex in past. The Vikings were the last residents of the Gage complex, which closed after the team's 2012 training camp and was demolished on June 29.
Follow Brian Hall on Twitter
