Vikings Owner Zygi Wilf and Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton said yesterday that the issues standing in the way of a deal for a new stadium in downtown Minneapolis are "small and should be resolved within a week," according to Doug Belden of the ST. PAUL PIONEER PRESS. Wilf "declined to specify the terms of the deal as they stand, but he said the team will offer 'in excess of $400 million' toward the project." Asked if Arden Hills is "dead as a possible site," Wilf said, "I'm never going to say never." But he added, "We're very close on hammering a deal right now for the Minneapolis location at Metrodome." Negotiators have been "trying to craft a deal that would allow the Vikings to continue playing in the Dome while a new stadium is built nearby." That would "reduce the time required to play" at the Univ. of Minnesota's TCF Bank Stadium, which is "smaller than the Dome and not fully equipped for NFL games." Wilf said that "estimates are the team would have to play at TCF for one to two years" (ST. PAUL PIONEER PRESS, 2/22). In Minneapolis, Kaszuba & Roper note the "hurdles in Minneapolis remained twofold: A City Council majority does not back a plan to use city taxes for a stadium without a referendum, and stadium supporters insist that including money for the city's Target Center would be likely to cost the package legislative votes" (Minneapolis STAR TRIBUNE, 2/22).
