Charities might pitch ‘e-kickoff’ for electronic pulltabs to open Vikings season

The state is now looking for ways to get its Vikings stadium financing plan up and going and get electronic pulltabs on their feet. It turns out that pulltab sellers have some ideas of their own.

Like a pulltab "e-kickoff" day as the Vikings open their season in London on Sept. 29th.

That's one of the solutions the trade group Allied Charities has been shopping around as they've been working to get pulltabs up to speed. They'd also like easier regulation and a green light for electronic bingo.

But as backers have been casting about for a way to sell the games and put a little marketing muscle behind the pulltabs, the football kickoff seemed like a natural, according to Al Lund, Allied Charities executive director.

"We talked to the Vikings about is as an aside," says Lund, "They were like, Ummm..."

(The Vikings generally frown on any association with gambling, it should be pointed out -- and the NFL is one of the leagues officially opposing the New Jersey lawsuit seeking to lift federal restrictions on sports betting.)

"They're happy to take our money, though," Lund joked. But he says he's serious about coming up with some way to kickstart electronic pulltabs. "But want to do things like that. It's something we need to talk about."

They've got some other ideas, as well. At least one of them has already been mentioned by Gov. Mark Dayton -- stepping up the approval process for electronic games looking to get into the market. Five months after pulltabs were approved, electronic linked bingo still hasn't passed the paperwork muster at the Minnesota Gambling Control Board.

You can see the rest of Allied Charities case for pulltabs here:

• Birders want Kelm-Helgen gone over Vikes stadium glass
• MOA executive to lead 2018 Super Bowl preparations
• $10/hr to shovel out Gophers stadium?
• Watch turf go in at Lowertown Ballpark in 2 minutes