During this period, the issue of a new stadium began to surface. Metropolitan Stadium had originally been designed for baseball and was inadequate for an NFL team, seating 48,500 when the league now required a capacity of at least 50,000. Also, the stadium experienced harsh weather conditions late in the season. As the coldest venue in the NFL, it provided a considerable home field advantage to the Vikings, but was miserable for players, staff, and fans after October. However, no replacement was available for the time being.