On May 14, 2012, Minnesota Governor Mark Dayton signed the new Vikings stadium bill, thus ending a seven-year battle to give the football team a new home. “It was a long and difficult process,” said former Minnesota House Representative Morrie Lanning, the chief sponsor of the bill. “It took a great deal of patience and perseverance; but I never lost hope.”
The new stadium will replace the National Football League’s second oldest stadium, the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome. Industry officials considered the Metrodome cutting edge when it was unveiled in 1982, due largely to the ten acres of Teflon-coated fiberglass that comprises its dome roof. Kept afloat by twenty electric fans, the roof proved to be a liability in 2010 when it collapsed under the weight of a major snowfall, adding fuel to the stadium debate. The Metrodome was initially home to three teams – the Vikings, Twins, and Gophers. The Gophers returned to the University of Minnesota campus in 2009, when the $303.3 million TCF Bank Stadium was built. In 2010, the Twins moved into the $522 million Target Field, leaving only the Vikings in search of a new home.
The new $975 million stadium will be designed by HKS Sports and Entertainment Group, a Dallas based architectural firm recently responsible for designing the new Cowboys stadium in Texas. With a general capacity of 65,000 seats, the stadium will have the ability to expand to 73,000 to hold major event such as the Super Bowl. Because the stadium will be publically owned and managed by the Minnesota Sports Facilities Association, it will be available for national and community events throughout the year. Even though the Vikings will pay $13 million annually to cover operating expenses and capital improvement funding, they will actually use the facility less than fifteen days per year.
The price tag for the new stadium will be split between the Vikings, the City of Minneapolis, and the State of Minnesota. The specific percentages and corresponding sources of payment were behind much of the debate. The final agreement holds the team itself responsible for $477 million, which is a higher percentage (49%) than most teams have historically contributed. In comparison, the Twins paid for 25% of their new stadium. The City of Minneapolis will pay $150 million towards the new stadium, while the State of Minnesota will contribute the remaining $348 million.
As outlined in last week’s FM Extra feature, the state’s portion will be paid through expanded charitable gaming throughout the state in the form of electronic pull-tabs and electronic linked bingo. There will be no new state or local taxes and the new stadium will not take any money from the state’s General Fund. To date, the electronic games, which are run on iPads, are only available at one location in the region. Mill’s Lounge in Dilworth currently offers electronic pull-tabs on five gaming devices.
The new stadium should be able to give back to the people of Minnesota almost immediately. According to Convention, Sports, and Leisure, the construction of the new stadium will support 13,000 jobs and bring in nearly $300 million in wages. Over 90% of the materials and labor value is expected to go back into Minnesota. “This will be the largest project in Minnesota history,” said former Rep. Lanning, “guaranteeing the state a tax revenue stream for thirty years.”
Founded in 1961, the Vikings have steadily been one of the state’s most important assets. Lanning believes that the Vikings would have absolutely left Minnesota if a new stadium agreement had not been achieved, which is why he was so passionate about the project. “The thought of losing a professional team that has been so much a part of the lives of people in Minnesota was unfathomable,” he said. In addition to the cultural impact, Lanning estimates that the Minnesota would have lost twenty million dollars a year in tax revenue if the team had left.
This is certainly an exciting time for Minnesota Vikings Fans. Not only is a new stadium in the works, the team made the play-offs in 2013 after a three-year absence, and running back Adrian Peterson came within nine yards of breaking the all-time single season rushing record. After signing a seven-year contract extension in 2011, it looks like Peterson will be able to tear up the field in the new stadium as well, slated to open in 2016.
For more information about the new stadium, go to www.vikings.com/stadium.