ST. PAUL, Minn. — The Minnesota Vikings, Gov. Mark Dayton and key legislators have agreed in principle to build a stadium for the NFL team just east of the current Metrodome site.
The agreement, announced during a Thursday morning news conference at the governor's office, calls for a $975 million stadium. The Vikings will cover $427 million of the costs. The state — helped by charitable gaming revenue, namely electronic pull tabs — will be responsible for $398 million. The city of Minneapolis will kick in $150 million.
The city also will pay $188.7 million in operating costs over the next 30 years. The Vikings will add $327.1 million in operating costs.
Called a "People's Stadium" by Dayton, the agreement was secured between several decision makers late Wednesday at the state capitol. The stadium will be publicly owned and will keep the Vikings in Minnesota for the next 30 years. The agreement requires no tax dollars from the state's general fund and is expected to create at least 13,000 new jobs.
The deal will need approval from the state legislature and the Minneapolis City Council. Flanked Thursday by Vikings owners Zygi and Mark Wilf, Dayton implored the legislature and city council to take action during the current session.
"I stress that this agreement is subject to both the approval of Minneapolis City Council and the Minnesota legislature. Much work, therefore, remains to be done," Dayton said. "Nevertheless, today's agreement is a remarkable accomplishment achieved through many, many hours of hard work through some talented and dedicated people.
"Now the real work begins, persuading a majority of the Minneapolis City Council and the Minnesota legislature to approve this agreement. I ask the council to act expeditiously and the legislature to hold up or down votes in both the house and the senate this session. I ask them to consider carefully what's at stake for Minneapolis and all of Minnesota."
The Vikings announced that the bill is expected to be introduced to legislatures on Monday, March 5.
Ted Mondale, head of the Minneapolis Sports Facilities Commission, said the stadium would be modeled after Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, which hosted the Super Bowl last month.
The Vikings will be able to play in the Metrodome for two years while building begins on the site and will play one year at TCF Bank Stadium on the University of Minnesota campus before moving into the new stadium. The NFL also will need to approve the deal, which would require the Vikings to stay in the stadium for 30 years.
The Vikings' lease at the Metrodome, the team's home since 1982, expired after the 2011 season.
"This is an exciting day because the dream of keeping the Minnesota Vikings here for generations to come is close at hand," Zygi Wilf said.
The Wilfs had pushed for a stadium in suburban Arden Hills after initial agreements with Ramsey County. But as those options seemed to lose viability and support, the Wilfs worked with the city of Minneapolis to come to an agreement. The plan calls for $828 million to build the stadium, with the remaining $147 million used on infrastructure costs.
Included in the plan will be open plazas to the west of the stadium for game-day entertainment and a team hall of fame.
"Today's agreement represents real compromise and is a step forward in achieving a long-term stadium solution in Minnesota," Mark Wilf said. "This location is the most cost-efficient stadium alternative. We have an opportunity to leverage existing infrastructure, including highways, the Hiawatha light rail line and the future central corridor."
The Vikings and state and city leaders also hope to attract national events, such as the Super Bowl, the NCAA basketball Final Four, Major League Soccer, concerts and political conventions into the closed-roof venue, which will allow for year-round use. In addition, there will be 2,500 parking spaces created adjacent to the stadium.
The stadium will be owned and operated by a new stadium authority, composed of three members appointed by the governor and two appointed by the city of Minneapolis.
"Our state will have a premier stadium to host the Minnesota Vikings, college and high school teams, rock concerts, monster truck mashes and other major events that will generate economic activity and showcase both Minneapolis and Minnesota to people all over the world," Dayton said. "And all of this will be accomplished without using a single general fund tax dollar."
During the life of the stadium, the Vikings will contribute 50.6 percent of the total operations cost from private sources. The city will provide the additional 49.4 percent. Those funds will come from hospitality sales taxes in the state of Minnesota and could include the renovation for the city-owned Target Center. Also included will be a companion bill that calls for continued use of hospitality sales taxes in the city of Minneapolis until 2045 to upgrade the Target Center and continue to pay off the convention center.
"By doing all three of those investments on hospitality in Minneapolis, the sales tax and this effort will make an incredible new investment, not only in the city, but probably more important for the people at the capitol, continue to have Minneapolis be the cash cow for the state that it has been," Minneapolis mayor R.T. Rybak said.
"That's not a simple deal to negotiate. It's a very complex set of arrangements, but it does allow us to get back to that core point. We were given a very difficult challenge by the legislature and the governor, an important one, but it said in this period in time we didn't want to impose new taxes, use general fund dollars, raise property taxes and we wanted to build a stadium."
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