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January 12, 2012
Shakopee enters Vikings stadium sweepstakes at last second
With Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton's deadline for Vikings stadium proposals coming up at 5 pm today, there was a surprise entrant yesterday: The previously unheard-from suburb of Shakopee, whose newly elected Mayor Brad Tabke presented Dayton with his own plans for a stadium that, he said, would be the cheapest to build, at a mere $920 million (compared to an estimated $925 million for a Minneapolis site and $1.1 billion for the pollutant-laden Arden Hills site).
"This is definitely not pie in the sky," Tabke told KARE-TV. "This is a really good option for the Vikings and for Minnesota, and it solves a lot of problems that currently exist with all of the other stadium locations."
As for how Tabke would pay for it, he's proposing an everything-but-the-kitchen-sink plan:
- $45 million in up-front payments from Shakopee.
- $29 million a year in revenues from slot machines that would be added to the existing horse track and casino at Canterbury Park, which is in Shakopee.
- $400 million from the Vikings and NFL.
- $16 million a year from a mix of a ticket surcharge, lottery scratch-off games, PSL sales, and naming rights money (which the Vikings, don't forget, are counting on to pay part of their share).
It all sounds more than a little jury-rigged, but no more so than the Minneapolis and Ramsey County plans, really. Also, the Vikings owners say they're not interested, but then, they said that about Minneapolis at one point as well.
Meanwhile, the real drama, such as it is, will come this afternoon, when Minneapolis officials choose from among three proposed sites for their entry, as Dayton is imposing a one-site-per-locality rule to try to winnow down the number of plans out there. Then everyone can get back down to the real debate about how on earth — and why — to raise more than $500 million in public money for a privately used NFL stadium.
Shakopee is kind of out in the middle of nowhere. I can see why shakopee would want to relocate spending to itself from elsewhere in the Metro, but I have no idea why the state as a whole or the Met Council would want to relocate spending there.
Also the Native American Gaming interests (which have a lot of money they throw at lobbying) are not going to be happy about slot machines t the horse track.
Posted by Joshua Northey on January 12, 2012 10:51 AM
Interesting. I think the other question would be why the Vikings would want to relocate out there? I have no clue about the Twin Cities and the surrounding area but I have to imagine that if it is out in the middle of nowhere (see: jobbing.com arena in Glendale) it'll be difficult to get people off their couches to watch football games, especially after the newness of the stadium dies off and there are even more improvements in the televised product.
Posted by Andrew T on January 12, 2012 08:44 PM
Actually Shakopee is in the southwest Metro area and can be easily accessed by US 169 which has exits on both I-694 and 494. Plus the site is close to Winter Park where the Vikings train and close to Manakto where they have training camp.
Posted by Jessy S. on January 12, 2012 08:49 PM
Its still outside the main ring with almost no dedicated transportation infrastructure compared to the MInneapolis sites. It might be better than the Arden Hills site.
Posted by Joshua Northey on January 12, 2012 09:26 PM
The roads out to the Shakopee site are already PACKED on the weekends with people going to the Renfest, Canterbury, Mystic Lake and Canterbury. Throw in game day for the Vikes, and Sundays will turn into Mondays before you reach your seats. The infrastructure is NOT capable of handling that kind of additional load.
Posted by Geoff on January 13, 2012 09:20 AM
If Robert Kraft can finance his own venue. So can zyggy the piggy!!!!
Posted by fred flintstone on January 14, 2012 01:26 PM