NFL spokesman Greg Aiello said Monday night's Minnesota Vikings-Chicago Bears game remains on track to be played at the University of Minnesota's TCF Bank Stadium, and there are no plans to move it elsewhere despite major logistical issues.
Later Friday, the league sent out an e-mail touting professional football's return to the outdoors in Minnesota for the first time since 1981.
"It's all hands on deck. We've got to get this game off," said Lester Bagley, the Vikings' vice president of public affairs and stadium development. "The point is it's going to be a great game on 'Monday Night Football.'"
By Friday afternoon, most of the snow had been cleared from the field and seating areas of the stadium. According to NFL Network insider Albert Breer, officials planned to lay a tarp on the artificial turf at 10 a.m. CT Saturday, then pump in warm air to keep the field from freezing.
Several players have said they're worried about the risk of injury from a frozen field, but university athletics spokesman Garry Bowman said the playing surface would be ready by Monday. He said the field already was soft, thanks to the layer of snow that insulated it from the cold.
"The field is in better shape today than it was for the Gophers' last game of the season (Nov. 27)," Bowman said. "Before that Iowa game, we had a lot of freezing and thawing, so we had a lot of ice patches to clear."
Workers were grooming the field Friday, adding more rubber to the turf to create a better surface for players, said Scott Ellison, the university's assistant athletic director. The school also was looking at other heating options, including the possibility of using the field's drainage system to heat it from underneath, he said.
"What we're trying to do is get the turf even softer than it is right now," Ellison said.
Snow removal wasn't the only issue. TCF Bank Stadium is about 14,000 seats smaller than the Vikings' regular home, the Metrodome, creating the possibility that some ticket holders could be turned away at the gates Monday. The Vikings hope some ticket holders will skip the game because the team is out of playoff contention and because of the cold. Daytime temperatures Monday are forecast to be in the teens.
Vikings marketing officer Steve LaCroix said early feedback from surveys sent to season-ticket holders was that enough people wanted refunds to ensure that there would be room for everyone Monday night.
"At this point, we can't guarantee that, but again, we're feeling very confident that there's going to be no one turned away from the game," he said.
Jack Tornquist, who said his family has owned season tickets since the Vikings were founded in 1961, was excited about the outdoor game until he found out about the general admission seating. He had eight tickets at the 40-yard line for the game in the Metrodome -- $128 each.
Now, Tornquist's family will wait in line to claim a seat somewhere, sitting in the cold for two hours before the game starts and trying to avoid losing their seats by taking a trip for the bathroom or concessions. He said it was a deal-breaker for his 72-year-old mother.
"The Vikings have decided by making things 'as fair as possible' to make it virtually impossible for people my parents' age -- their most tenured and loyal season-ticket holders from whom they've received the most money and still pay for the most expensive seats -- to attend this game," Tornquist said.
Ellison said some warm locations, possibly including Williams Arena, would be open for fans waiting to line up for the game. Details were still being worked out Friday.
The university also will have extra medical personnel on duty because of the cold, Ellis said.
Bagley asked that fans "hang in there with us."
"In a little more than than 48 hours, we had to communicate a ticket plan," he said. "This is what we came up with as the best possible situation."
Bagley also said the Vikings are concerned about the safety of the Metrodome after a blizzard last weekend caused the building's roof to collapse, but he didn't rule out the team playing there next season.
The Vikings have long pursued a new stadium paid for mostly by taxpayers, and next year is the final year of their Metrodome lease. Bagley didn't directly address that issue while discussing the outlook for next season.
"We're going to have to dig into that and get an honest assessment of that," Bagley said. "Some people would say, 'Well, a couple of shingles come off the roof, you don't build a new barn.' Well, the roof collapsed. We have concerns about the safety of the facility going forward."
Minnesota is dealing with a state budget deficit of more than $6.2 billion that must be handled first, but Gov. Mark Dayton and legislative leaders have said they're open to a good stadium plan. A state lawmaker plans to introduce a proposal by late January.
Workers in cherry pickers tried to clean snow from the sides of the facility Friday, so they could patch a roof panel that tore open two days before, said Darin Broton, spokesman for the Metropolitan Sports Facilities Commission. The other three panels that initially tore open Sunday already have been patched.
After the fourth panel is p tched, Broton said, workers would position heat blowers around the collapsed roof and melt the remaining snow and ice, which so far has prevented permanent repairs from getting under way.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.