Sellout expected

With Thursday's noon deadline looming, the Vikings are still 2,600 tickets short of selling out Sunday's game against Oakland, but vice president of sales and marketing Steve LaCroix said he's confident the game will be televised locally, one way or another.

"We have a substantial challenge to try to get there by noon tomorrow," LaCroix said. "We likely will need some assistance from WCCO (Channel 4) and another corporate partner."

WCCO bought the final 700 tickets for the Nov. 4 game against San Diego, but station vice president and general manager Susan Adams Loyd said Tuesday that her organization would not be able to foot the entire bill alone this time.

LaCroix wouldn't identify this week's possible second partner, saying those discussions are ongoing, but adding, "We feel confident we can get someone on board."

LaCroix said the Vikings have not asked the NFL to extend the noon deadline, as the league did for the season opener against Atlanta, but that it is an option.

The Vikings have sold out 100 consecutive games since the start of the 1998 season and LaCroix said less than 2,000 tickets remain for the Dec. 17 Monday night game against Chicago.

More than 6,000 tickets remain for the other two home games: Dec. 2 against Detroit and Dec. 23 against Washington.