Minnesota
Minnesota Vikings submit bid to host 2028 NFL Draft
MINNEAPOLIS — The Minnesota Vikings have submitted a bid to host the 2028 NFL Draft, multiple city and team stakeholders confirmed Wednesday. The team is working in conjunction with Minnesota Sports and Events, the regional sports commission that helped secure Super Bowl LII after the 2017 season.
“Minnesota is in contention,” Matt Meunier, the bid director for Minnesota Sports and Events, said. “We’re in the game. We’re actively pursuing the right to bring a future NFL draft to our community.”
Traditionally, the NFL awards future host cities during one of the league’s annual spring or summer ownership meetings. The owners are scheduled to meet on March 29 in Phoenix and on May 19 in Orlando, Fla.
The Vikings began their pursuit in 2019. Team executives have attended previous drafts. They have also visited the league office to reiterate their interest.
“We have basically been staying in their face for multiple years,” said Lester Bagley, the Vikings’ executive vice president of public affairs.
Vikings co-owner Mark Wilf has wanted to bring the event to Minnesota for years. Last fall, speaking at the team’s practice facility in Eagan, Minn., he said that the subject remained a focus. In conversations with the NFL, league executives mentioned U.S. Bank Stadium as an intriguing location. Minnesota Sports and Events proposed multiple options, but many of them centered around U.S. Bank Stadium.
Experience helps in this regard, too. The Vikings and Minnesota Sports and Events collaborated on the winning bid for the Super Bowl in early 2018. Bagley and Wendy Blackshaw, the president and CEO of Minnesota Sports and Events, said the league came away pleased with the result.
The Vikings plan to commit financial and staff support to help with the bid. The team and Minnesota Sports and Events have also obtained resources from executives from three local companies: Christophe Beck of Ecolab, Gunjan Kedia of U.S. Bank and Geoff Martha of Medtronic.
Blackshaw wouldn’t divulge the specifics on the investments, but she did suggest that Minnesota Sports and Events estimates an economic impact of more than $100 million.
“There is a significant interest in this event,” Blackshaw said, “especially an event of this scale. It would be amazing.”
Typically, host cities must submit bids for multiple years before they are selected by the NFL. Pittsburgh will host the 2026 NFL Draft in less than a month, and Washington, D.C., is scheduled to host the 2027 NFL Draft.
Last year, The Buffalo News reported that the Bills were throwing their hats in the ring for 2028 to coincide with the opening of the new Highmark Stadium.
“Certainly, if 2028 doesn’t work out, we’d need to pivot to a future year,” Meunier said.
Both the team and Minnesota Sports and Events said Wednesday that they intend to pursue the event annually until it is held in Minnesota.
ST. PAUL, Minn. (FOX 9) – Sunday was the deadline for Minnesota to complete the revalidation of thousands of Medicaid providers in “high-risk” programs as the state fights with the federal government over about $2 billion in funding.
What is Minnesota Revalidate?
The backstory:
Earlier this year, state leaders announced an effort to revalidate more than 5,500 providers in Minnesota’s Health Care Programs. The revalidation was part of an effort to combat fraud and to satisfy demands from the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, which has withheld up to $2 billion in Medicaid funds from Minnesota.
The deadline to finish the revalidation was on Sunday, May 31.
What we know:
As of last month, state officials said only 550 providers have had applications approved, site inspections completed and been re-enrolled.
At that point, 1,510 applications were incomplete, and 160 providers had been disenrolled. State officials said mostly because they had failed to respond to state inquiries.
There were an additional 990 who had been submitting claims but failed to respond to state notices.
Medicaid funding lawsuit
Local perspective:
In January, Medicaid Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz announced the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services would withhold $2 billion in Medicaid funding for Minnesota.
The decision followed an audit by the centers of Minnesota’s Medicaid programs. The funding suspension also followed a new batch of federal Medicaid fraud charges that came down in December. During a news conference, as prosecutors announced new charges and guilty pleas related to fraud, federal prosecutors estimated that fraud in Minnesota’s Medicaid programs could total as high as $9 billion since 2018.
The other side:
Since that press conference, the $9 billion figure has been heavily disputed by state leaders who say there is currently no evidence that fraud in Minnesota is that rampant. Gov. Walz and other state leaders say that while fraud is an issue, President Trump has weaponized it to commit political retribution against the state.
What’s next:
FOX 9 has reached out to state officials to see how many providers are facing disenrollment as the deadline hits on Sunday.
Earlier this year, Attorney General Keith Ellison filed a lawsuit over the pulled Medicaid funds. This month, a judge granted a mutual motion for a stay in the case – a 120 pause – to give the federal government and Minnesota time to resolve the funding issue. An update is due to the court by early September.
A 29-year-old man drowned at a lake in northern Minnesota on Saturday, according to the sheriff’s office.
The Crow Wing County Sheriff’s Office said the man drowned at the swimming area at Little Emily Lake Park. The man was at the park with family and friends at the time.
First responders arrived at the scene to try and rescue him, but he was pronounced dead, according to the sheriff’s office.
“Our thoughts and prayers are with the victim’s family and friends during this incredibly difficult time,” the sheriff’s office said.
Little Emily Lake is about 40 miles north of Brainerd.
-
Entertainment2 minutes agoHappier than ever, Gary Oldman isn’t ready to quit ‘Slow Horses’ anytime soon
-
Lifestyle9 minutes agoL.A. Times Concierge: ‘I’m interested in photography. What great L.A. historic sites should I capture?’
-
Politics12 minutes agoCalifornia will play a big role in the fight for power in Congress. Tuesday’s primary sets the stage
-
Sports24 minutes agoUCLA softball coaches Kelly Inouye-Perez and Lisa Fernandez inspire nation’s top offense
-
News27 minutes agoXi’s last frontier: China’s plan to transform its west
-
World32 minutes agoIran’s IRGC launches retaliatory strike after US attacks
-
News57 minutes agoOne by one, U.S. civil rights agency dismantles tools to fight discrimination
-
Los Angeles, Ca2 hours agoBallots burned, vote center vandalized in possible acts of election interference, Los Angeles County officials say
