Max Winter (June 29, 1903 – July 26, 1996) was a

Minneapolis Minneapolis () is the largest city in Minnesota, United States, and the county seat of Hennepin County. The city is abundant in water, with list of lakes in Minneapolis, thirteen lakes, wetlands, the Mississippi River, creeks and waterfalls. ...

businessman and sport executive who helped found the

Minnesota Vikings The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) North division. Founded in 1960 as an expansio ...

Biography

Winter was born in

Ostrava Ostrava (; pl, Ostrawa; german: Ostrau ) is a city in the north-east of the Czech Republic, and the capital of the Moravian-Silesian Region. It has about 280,000 inhabitants. It lies from the border with Poland, at the confluences of four ri ...

Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of ...

(modern day Czechia). He emigrated with his family and settled in

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the List of U.S. states and territories by population, 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minne ...

. He graduated from North High School in Minneapolis in 1922 (see North High Polaris for 1922). He attended

Hamline University Hamline University is a private liberal arts college in Saint Paul, Minnesota. Founded in 1854, Hamline is known for its emphasis on experiential learning, service, and social justice. The university is named after Bishop Leonidas Lent Hamline ...

on a basketball scholarship. Winter opened The 620 Club in 1934 with his brother Henry and boxing manager/promoter Ernie Fliegel as equal partners. Located at 620 Hennepin Avenue in downtown Minneapolis, the restaurant specialized in turkey. The club was sold in 1971 and revamped the same year to become Moby Dick's bar (aka "Moby's). In 1947, Winter became part owner with Ben Berger, Sid Hartman, and Morris Chalfen and assumed the general manager duties of the new

Minneapolis Lakers The Los Angeles Lakers franchise has a long and storied history, predating the formation of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Founded in 1947, the Lakers are one of the NBA's most famous and successful franchises. As of summer 2012, t ...

in the National Basketball League. By the mid-1950s, Winter was interested in attracting a pro football team to Minneapolis. He attempted to get an expansion team in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ma ...

; when that failed Winter and his partners joined with the newly created

American Football League The American Football League (AFL) was a major professional American football league that operated for ten seasons from 1960 until 1970, when it merged with the older National Football League (NFL), and became the American Football Conference. ...

in the fall of 1959. By 1960, with creation of the AFL, the NFL decided to expand to both

Dallas Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...

and Minneapolis-St. Paul. Minnesota was granted an NFL franchise at the league owners' meetings in Miami on January 28, 1960. Winter and his group, out of the AFL and received an NFL expansion team that began in the 1961 season. The team was named the

on September 27, 1960. The founding group consisted of Max Winter, E. William Boyer, H.P Skoglund, Ole Haugsrud and Bernard H. Ridder, Jr. Winter remained on the Vikings board of directors until 1989. He served as team president from 1965-87. In 1985, Winter shocked and angered his fellow Vikings owners when he attempted to sell his share of the team to

Irwin L. Jacobs Irwin L. Jacobs (July 15, 1941 – April 10, 2019) was an American businessman. He was the CEO of several large corporations, formerly including the now-bankrupt Genmar Holdings, boat-building company. He earned the nickname "Irv the Liquidator ...

and

Carl Pohlad Carl Ray Pohlad (August 23, 1915 – January 5, 2009) was an American financier from Minnesota. Pohlad is best known as the owner of the Minnesota Twins baseball franchise from 1984 (succeeding Calvin Griffith) until his death in 2009. In 2 ...

. The case went to the

Minnesota Supreme Court The Minnesota Supreme Court is the highest court in the U.S. state of Minnesota. The court hears cases in the Supreme Court chamber in the Minnesota State Capitol or in the nearby Minnesota Judicial Center. History The court was first asse ...

and finally was settled in Winter's favor. https://law.justia.com/cases/minnesota/supreme-court/1987/c5-86-637-2.html

Legacy

When the Minnesota Vikings headquarters and training facility opened in Eden Prairie, Minnesota, the Vikings had named it Winter Park, in honor of Max Winter. Their headquarters is now in Eagan, Minnesota.

References

Hamline Pipers men's basketball players 1903 births 1996 deaths Austro-Hungarian emigrants to the United States American men's basketball players Jewish American sportspeople 20th-century American Jews Minnesota Vikings owners {{Austria-business-bio-stub