Vikings VP/Public Affairs & Stadium Development Lester Bagley yesterday said that the team "was attempting to have meeting" with Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton regarding a letter he wrote voicing opposition to the Vikings' planned PSL fees, according to a front-page piece by Mike Kaszuba of the Minneapolis STAR TRIBUNE. Bagley "downplayed the large personal seat license fees being charged in some NFL markets." He said, "We know that this is not San Francisco, this is not Dallas and this is not New York." State Rep. Morrie Lanning, the stadium bill sponsor, said that he was "surprised to hear a figure as high as $20,000 for a personal seat license." He added that during negotiations the figure "that was generally discussed was 'a few thousand' dollars." Lanning said any fee close to $20,000 would be "just too big." He said Dayton's negotiators "were well aware" the Vikings might charge for PSLs. Lanning: "The governor's letter (to the Vikings) makes it sound as if he was not aware of this concept, and that should be no surprise to him or anybody. The possibility of personal seat licenses were a part of the discussion all the way along" (Minneapolis STAR TRIBUNE, 11/15). In St. Paul, Tom Powers writes Dayton's "populist rant against personal seat licenses is about six months too late. That Vikings ship has sailed." Powers: "I could make some sort of smart remark about his failure to read the fine print in the stadium deal, but that wouldn't be right because the Vikings were up front about what they were going to do. ... So I have no idea what the governor is doing, other than rousting the anti-stadium cranks and giving them a chance for one last squawk" (ST. PAUL PIONEER PRESS, 11/15).
