ST. PAUL, Minn. -- The Minnesota Vikings moved to within a governor's signature of getting a new $975 million stadium on Thursday after the state Senate approved a plan that relies heavily on public financing.
Gov. Mark Dayton has said he'll sign the measure, meaning the Senate's 36-30 vote was effectively the final barrier for the stadium. The House passed it overnight.
After the Senate vote, jubilant Vikings vice president Lester Bagley hugged another team official and shouted, "Let's build it!" Vikings fans broke out singing the "Skol Vikings" fight song and the Senate president admonished them to take it outside the chamber.
The team chased a new stadium for more than a decade but had little leverage until its lease expired this past year on the 30-year-old Metrodome. Dayton led a newly urgent charge for the team, arguing that without a new building the state could lose its most beloved franchise.
The deal guarantees the Vikings' future in Minnesota for three decades.
The team would pay 49 percent of construction costs: $477 million, which is $50 million more than owners initially committed. But the public expense is still high: $348 million for the state and $150 million for the city of Minneapolis.
Even before the final Senate vote, it had taken on an air of inevitability after the House approved it and adjourned for the year early Thursday. Opponents conceded during the Senate debate that the bill would become law, even as they sharply criticized the state's share backed by expanded gambling.
http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/79...ikings-stadium
I'm certain the $500 million of taxpayer money could have been better spent than on a building that will host eight games per year (that's right, the Vikings aren't hosting a playoff game anytime soon)
In Spunk's backyard, no less!
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Originally Posted by MMC
