Vikings, Anoka County Release Details Of Stadium Agreement

Vikings, Anoka County Formally Unveil Plans For $675M Stadium

The Vikings and Anoka County (MN) formally announced plans for a new $675M, 68,000-seat retractable-roof stadium, which will be publicly owned by a stadium authority to be established by the Minnesota state Legislature. The Vikings will operate the stadium and sign a 30-year lease that includes a no-escape clause and an option to extend the lease for two ten-year periods. The Vikings will receive the revenue generated by the stadium and make an annual payment to the county. Details of that payment will be negotiated as part of the lease agreement. The Vikings will also honor any remaining lease obligations on the Metrodome. The stadium design includes the team’s HQs, museum and HOF, as well as practice facilities, a retail shop and a themed restaurant. Separate from the stadium project, the county and team have requested the acceleration of planned off-site road improvements estimated at $115M (Vikings). Vikings Owner Zygi Wilf said that it is “urgent for the state to act before the deal expires” December 31. Wilf: “Hopefully, the state will see to it that they address these issues sooner rather than later” (Minneapolis STAR TRIBUNE, 9/21).

TAKING THE HIGH ROAD? In St. Paul, Shaw, Sweeney & Jensen note the total project cost with the road improvements included is $790M, “about $190[M] more than was estimated last spring,” which prompted Minnesota House Speaker Steve Sviggum “to predict the Legislature will leave the proposal sitting on the bench and refuse to pay its share of the new plan.” Sviggum said that taxpayers “would pay two-thirds of the total cost of the stadium,” including $230M from the state. The current proposal is financed with $280M from the Vikings, which includes a $92M loan from the NFL; $280M from a 0.75% sales tax hike in Anoka County; $115M from the state, financed by a tax increment financing district on the site; and the $115M for road improvements. Sviggum is requesting a special legislative session to consider stadiums proposed by the Twins and Univ. of Minnesota, “but not the Vikings” (PIONEER PRESS, 9/21).