The attitude of the Minnesota public toward its sports
franchises is featured in an extensive poll in Sunday's
Minneapolis STAR TRIBUNE. The Star Tribune Minnesota Poll
showed 79% of respondents said the state "does gain" from
having the Twins, Vikings and T-Wolves, but only 46% said
they would feel a "big loss" if the Twins left the state.
The survey of 699 adults taken between January 17-21 also
showed that 53% of respondents "oppose strongly" Twins Owner
Carl Pohlad's proposal which includes selling 49% of the
team to the state in return for $200M in public funding for
a new stadium, and 56% said the Twins organization/owner
should bear "most" of the responsibility of paying for a new
ballpark. When posed questions on how to pay for a new
stadium, "in general, taxes on alcohol, cigarettes and
tickets on events in a new stadium found the most favor"
(Minneapolis STAR TRIBUNE, 2/23). Also in Sunday's STAR
TRIBUNE, columnist Terry Fiedler examines the ballpark deal
under the header, "Is A New Stadium A Good Public
Investment?" (Minneapolis STAR TRIBUNE, 2/23).