With the completion of a Vikings season more frequently characterized by Brett Favre’s inappropriate text messages and the Metrodome roof collapse than the actual play of the Minnesota Vikings, plans for a new Vikings stadium seem to be gaining traction this off-season.

Despite the inconvenience of the roof’s collapse in mid-December, causing the Vikings to play their last two home games at Ford Field in Detroit, Mich. and at the Minnesota Gophers’ outdoor TCF Bank Stadium, it has also jump-started the discussions about building a new stadium to keep the Vikings in Minnesota.

With only one year remaining on the Vikings’ lease with the Metropolitan Sports Facilities Commission, the Vikings are devoted to building a new stadium to prevent the franchise from moving to a more lucrative market, such as Los Angeles, which already has plans to build an NFL stadium even without a team.

Another confounding variable is the potential for a lockout with the lack of an agreement in the National Football League labor talks. With the cancellation of part or all of the 2011 season, the ability for the Vikings to move forward on plans to build a new stadium would become increasingly complicated.

However, if the state is committed to building a new stadium to keep the Vikings in Minnesota, the team has identified four possible locations for a stadium.

The current site of the Metrodome appears to be the frontrunner for a new stadium with its downtown location and availability. Although this location seems to be the most viable option at this point, the Vikings have turned down proposals for renovating the current Metrodome and recognize the need to generate more revenue with a new stadium since the Vikings have finished near the bottom in local revenues for NFL franchises for the past five years.

As a result of the declining revenues, Vikings owner Zygi Wilf has done everything in his power to increase revenue, including selling the naming rights to the stadium as Mall of America Field. Wilf won’t hesitate to move the team to Los Angeles if an agreement cannot be reached on a new stadium.

Recently emerging in the discussion for a possible site of a new stadium is the 430-acre abandoned home of the Twin Cities Army Ammunition Plant in Arden Hills. According to the Vikings website, the Ramsey County Board of Commissioners recently passed a resolution allowing the Ramsey County manager to begin the process of formulating negotiations with the Vikings to build a stadium on the deserted property.

The Arden Hills site would offer considerably more land than the current Metrodome location, which would be conducive for parking, tailgating or other developments that may interest Zygi and his brother and Vikings President Mark Wilf. However, the site lacks the infrastructure already in place in downtown Minneapolis and would require a sizeable investment from the Wilfs. Still, this abandoned lot seems to be the most logical alternative site if the Vikings don’t rebuild on the current location of the Metrodome.

According to the StarTribune, other possible locations for a new Vikings stadium are in Brooklyn Park, the site of Target Corp.’s large plot of land, as well as a site between Target Field and I-94. However, the Vikings haven’t confirmed they are looking at these locations.

With the Vikings’ lease on the Metrodome one year from complete, the urgency to negotiate a deal on a new stadium to keep the Vikings in Minnesota is steadily growing. Yet, if one thing is certain, wherever the Vikings decide to build a new stadium, Vikings fans will come to see their beloved NFL team.