You probably won't be hearing about the San Antonio Vikings and the Los Angeles Saints anytime soon.

That's because the NFL's new realignment plan could dull the threat of relocation that has become popular among teams like the Minnesota Vikings and New Orleans Saints, whose officials claim their team's financial viability hinges on sweetheart stadium deals.

	Red McCombs' Vikings will play a preseason game in San Antonio, their rumored relocation site.

With realignment now a reality, the threat of relocation becomes more a bluff than a real possibility to pin government officials in NFL cities around the country. But while the divisional changes are by no means permanent, it can be assumed the 18-month effort to restructure the league will not be in vain, two leading sports analysts said. No one can accurately predict how long the league will remain in its new alignment, but the fact that the decisions were finally made could have eliminated a bargaining chip for the two teams seeking public support for a new stadium.

"The NFL can't wait and wait for these teams that are posturing to make a move," said David Carter, principal of the Sports Business Group, a sports consultancy firm. "The league is in the same position that Rand McNally is in when it has to draw the Balkans and there's a war going on there. Things might change, but you don't have time to wait."

On Tuesday, NFL owners approved a geographically driven plan that divides both conferences into four four-team divisions. As expected, the Vikings are in the NFC North with their traditional rivals – the Bears, Lions and Packers. The Saints become part of the NFC South with the Falcons, Panthers and Buccaneers. The realignment also moves the Cardinals, who relocated from St. Louis in 1988, from the NFC East to the West. The Ravens, who previously called the AFC Central their home, are now in the AFC North, and the Titans become part of the AFC South from the old AFC Central.

"(Realignment) definitely hurts the teams that are planning to threaten to move because (league owners) don't want to be redoing this thing in two years," said Todd Gruen, managing editor of "Inside the Ownership of Pro Sports Teams," a reference book profiling the business side of team management. "The fact that the Vikings remain in the (North) and New Orleans isn't somewhere out-of-whack seems to prove that the NFL believes that there will be a deal with these cities for both teams. If any of those teams had a good chance to move to San Antonio or L.A., they'd be placed in the West."

That's in keeping with what Vikings owner Red McCombs said when asked about realignment six months ago.

"There is some feeling within the NFL owners group that the league would be best served by having Minnesota in the (NFC) West," Vikings owner Red McCombs told the Minneapolis Star Tribune in November. "We would come out of the Central division because of the uncertainty around there being a facility. That uncertainty is obvious to everyone."

However, NFL spokesman Greg Aiello said he doubts realignment hurts a team's ability to relocate. "Realignment is realignment," he said. Changes made by realignment are "completely unrelated to a team's desire to move."

	“	(Realignment) definitely hurts the teams that are planning to threaten to move because (league owners) don't want to be redoing this thing in two years. If any of those teams had a good chance to move to San Antonio or L.A., they'd be placed in the West. ”
		— Todd Gruen, managing editor of "Inside the Ownership of Pro Sports Teams"

A bill that proposed a $450 million to $500 million retractable-roof stadium to be built on the University of Minnesota campus and shared by both the Vikings and the Gophers failed to reach the floor of the Minnesota State Legislature on Monday, the final day of the legislative session. The bill called for the Vikings to contribute $100 million with the NFL chipping in $51.5 million from league-funded stadium construction loans. The remainder would be funded by tourist taxes or lottery revenue, said Lester Bagley, the Vikings' stadium consultant. The Vikings' Metrodome lease expires in 2011.

Although the stadium bill is going nowhere until at least January of 2002, Bagley insists that realignment doesn't eliminate the Vikings' bargaining position.

"This is very much a Minnesota problem," Bagley said Monday. "This is not about Red McCombs or realignment. It's about this community that we want to keep in the NFL."

Although Bagley said that "it's very clear what the stakes are," realignment might have made a Vikings' threat to move to San Antonio as powerful as the Carl Pohlad's bluff in 1997 to sell the Twins to a businessman who hoped to move the franchise to North Carolina.

Bagley said, though the Vikings have not opened their books, the team ranked 24th in league profitability in 2000 while playing in the Metrodome. "We'll be 30 out of 32, depending on the New Orleans situation, by 2003," he said.

The Saints, unhappy with playing in the Superdome, have proposed constructing a new stadium for the team. Under the proposal, the team would contribute $100 million while the state puts up $350 million. Louisiana government officials have offered to pay $75 million for renovation of the Superdome.

Both the Saints and Vikings meet in their preseason openers this fall. Interestingly, the game will be played at the Alamodome in San Antonio on Aug. 11.

Darren Rovell, who covers sports business for ESPN.com, can be reached at darren.rovell@espn.com