The Vikings' first full-team practice is Friday, which means Eagan is gearing up for year two of training camp in its backyard.
Though the 2014 opening of the Premium Outlets provided a blueprint for large-crowd response, Eagan city manager Dave Osberg admits there were at least some jitters around the Vikings' first training camp. But the two weeks went off without a hitch.
"We had one hiccup, I think, on day one where there was a traffic meter that wasn't working quite right," he recalled. "They fixed that in a hurry and and the fans were able to get in quickly. After that, we really had no problems at all. It managed itself very well."
Training camp brought an estimated $5 million dollars into the city. A new hotel is bring constructed at Viking Lakes, the Wilf-owned property, and there's still more mixed-use development planned.
Samantha Brown is with the bar Union 32, which one of the closest restaurants to camp.
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"We probably in just one day doubled what we did in a matter of three days on just a normal week," she said. "So we were able to pull those numbers in strong."
Union 32 will still be running a shuttle and will host an outdoor concert weekend in August.
The team is also happy with how the first Eagan training camp went. There will still be daily autograph sessions, but they'll be for kids 18 and under.
"We hear kids all the time about meeting their favorite player," Vikings spokesman Jeff Anderson said. "We have 90 players each signing 150 autographs for the duration of camp: that's more than 13,000 children that have a potential to get an autograph."
Anderson says they're keeping an eye on no-shows, people who scoop up free tickets but don't use them, to make sure everyone who wants to go for free, can. Last year an estimated 63,000 fans came over 17 practices, but around 90,000 were claimed. He says to continue checking the Vikings' ticket site, even if a practice looks sold out because they could add extra tickets.
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MNDot and Eagan Police are assisting with the event, and they're telling fans to allow some extra time to arrive due to construction on 494 east between 35E and Highway 62, as well as work on 149.
Sixteen practices are open to fans. The night practice, which is one of the biggest draws, is Saturday, Aug. 3. The first padded practice is Monday, and the final practice for fans is Aug. 16.
