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February 20, 2012
Vikings stadium "agreement" agrees on not much
The Minneapolis Star Tribune reported on Friday that the state has "reached a tentative agreement" with the Minnesota Vikings and the city of Minneapolis on a new $975 million stadium. The details of the agreement, according to "multiple sources":
- The state of Minnesota would contribute $398 million.
- Minneapolis would kick in $150 million in construction costs, plus $180 million in operating costs over 30 years.
- The Vikings would pay $427 million.
And ... that's it. Nothing on where the public money would come from. Nothing on whether the Vikings would pay rent (or share stadium revenues) to offset some of that $180 million in operating costs. No set site, even, since the parties have only agreed to build "at or near" the Metrodome. And, oh yes, the "state" here just means the governor, and the "city" here just means the mayor — neither the state legislature nor the city council have agreed on squat, and the council in particular features a majority opposed to a stadium without a public vote, one that the team would almost certainly lose.
In other words, pretty much nothing we didn't know last May, except that the exact dollar split has been tweaked (a bit more from the state, a bit less from the city, up-front anyway), and now the Vikings and governor are on board as pushing for a Minneapolis site.
Still, it's an occasion for headlines, and for Star Trib columnists to weigh in on why this would be the bestest thing since sliced bread: For never-met-a-stadium-he-didn't-like Sid Hartman, it's that a new stadium could host the NCAA Final Four just like the Metrodome already does; for Patrick Reusse, it's, um, something about how hard schoolteachers work and how Occupy protestors like prisoners too much. (I'll leave the more detailed boggling over these to the irreplaceable Minnesota blog I Dislike Your Favorite Team.)
But at least you can say one thing: The battle over where to build a Vikings stadium is over, and ">Minneapolis has won —
Ramsey County businessman Mike O'Connor says he's got a plan to single-handedly revive the Arden Hills plan for the Vikings stadium.
And he's going to roll it out Monday.
Sigh. Same as it ever was...
It always strikes me as odd that papers will bend over backwards to cover some completely irrelevant public office race "fairly" because they are "journalists". Then when it is the issue of some particular development project or other all pretense of objectivity they cling to in other context just flies out the window and now it is ok the be a cheerleader for one side or the other.
This is despite the fact that these several hundred million dollar discretionary expenditures have a lot more impact on everyone than Bob the city councilor who will likely vote 80% the same as Sally the City Councilor.
Posted by QCIC on February 20, 2012 10:32 AM
I am against any public funds for the stadium, but what this story and others fail to mention is that there's a big silent push from the legislature to force Minneapolis to pay for a stadium. That push is the repeal of the 3% tax on food and liquor plus taxes on lodging. Rep. Davids (R-Preston) wants to turn off the taxes that were originally for the convention center (and I believe the Metrodome before that) in 2020 when the convention center's bonds are paid off. Minneapolis will get the message and the City Council will pass any motion to build a new Vikings stadium just to keep those taxes.
The move by Davids can't be anything else. There's no way an outstate legislator would help Minneapolis by cutting taxes. These are the same sobs that voted to allow Hennepin County Commissioners to avoid the referendum for a new twins ballpark.
Posted by wisher on February 20, 2012 08:45 PM
I'm going to predict that we will be in the same place next year and the year after that and the year after that and so on...
There is also an agreement for the Vikings to use TCI Bank Stadium while construction goes on. Since the field needs to be upgraded to NFL standards, might as well move the Gophers back to the Dome, add seats in the open side, replace the bleachers with seats, and add Kentucky Bluegrass to the field. The lease with the University of Minnesota can be a ironclad 25 year lease, and Bingo, the Vikings have a brand new home.
Posted by Jessy S. on February 21, 2012 02:50 PM