St. Paul – Today Minnesota Governor Mark Dayton was joined by State Legislators, Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak, Mark and Zygi Wilf of the Minnesota Vikings, and business and labor leaders to announce an agreement to build a new “People’s Stadium” on the current Metrodome site. The new stadium will be publicly owned, support more than 13,000 jobs, require no general fund tax dollars, and keep the Vikings in Minnesota for the next 30 years.
The People’s Stadium – By The Numbers (PDF)
Bowl View of New Stadium (Image)
Governor’s Office Official News Relase (PDF)
Governor Dayton said, “This agreement results from countless hours of analyses, discussions, and negotiations; and I thank everyone involved for an extraordinary effort. The project would provide up to 8000 construction jobs and an additional 5000 jobs among suppliers during its three years of construction, employ many more through its ongoing operations, and keep the Minnesota Vikings here for the next 30 years — all without using a single dollar of General Fund tax revenues. The stadium would be owned by the people of Minnesota and managed for their benefit year-round by a Public Authority.
“I respectfully urge the Minneapolis City Council and the Minnesota Legislature to vote their approval as soon as possible. Let’s put thousands of Minnesotans to work building our ‘People’s Stadium’.”
“We are pleased that those representatives of the Vikings, the City of Minneapolis and the state have successfully completed their negotiations to build a new stadium at the Metrodome site. We will now be working to finalize language for a new bill that will implement the proposed agreement,” said Rep. Morrie Lanning.
“Keeping the Vikings in Minnesota is in the best interests of the state. This will be done without using any General Fund dollars that could go to our schools or nursing homes. It is a real win for the State of Minnesota,” said Senator Julie Rosen.
“This solution simply makes sense. The site that has been the home of the Minnesota Vikings for the last 30 years will be its home for the next 30 years, in a publicly-owned, modern facility that takes advantage of the infrastructure in place and offers Minnesotans world-class sports and entertainment — right in Minneapolis,” said Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak
“My constituents, like people across Minneapolis, want to get to work — and this is the single biggest action we’ve taken in the last decade to create jobs. The new stadium also secures Minneapolis’ place as the premier host city of the upper Midwest, and that means even more good jobs,” said Minneapolis City Council President Barbara Johnson
“We are pleased to be able to join Governor Dayton, officials from the City of Minneapolis and our legislative leaders in offering this stadium agreement for consideration at the Capitol,” said Zygi Wilf, Vikings owner and chairman. “We believe this proposal offers significant benefits for the City, the State, our fans and the team, and we look forward to working with the City of Minneapolis and the State Legislature to pass a stadium bill this year.”
The Downtown East site includes the current Metrodome land with the addition of a game-day plaza on the stadium’s west side. The new “People’s Stadium,” estimated to be available for public use 355 days a year, will include a fixed-roof to allow year-round activities, 2,500 parking spaces adjacent to the stadium and a creative design including an attractive, functional interior similar to Target Field.
“This agreement represents true compromise and is a great step forward in achieving a long-term stadium solution in Minnesota,” said Mark Wilf, Vikings owner and president. “We appreciate the hard work from all of our partners in reaching this milestone, and we look forward to joining Governor Dayton, MSFC Chair Mondale, Minneapolis leaders and stadium bill authors to pass legislation that secures the long-term future of the Vikings in Minnesota and supports thousands of much-needed jobs.”
During the three-year building process, the project will support 13,000 jobs and require nearly 4.3 million work hours with nearly $300 million of the overall costs being wages for construction workers, boosting an industry currently suffering unemployment near 20%. As was the case with Target Field, over 90% of the labor and material cost will be invested back into the Minnesota economy. When combining the Vikings’ capital contribution with the team’s share of operating expenses/capital expenditures, the private contribution is more than half (50.6%) of the project’s life-cycle costs.
The stadium will be owned and operated by a new Stadium Authority, comprised of three members appointed by the Governor and two members appointed by the City of Minneapolis. The facility will be a statewide asset that can host year-round events, including high school sports and community programs from across the Minnesota, and national events like Major League Soccer, NCAA Final Fours, a Super Bowl and political conventions.
The stadium agreement is contingent upon legislative approval and the support of the Minneapolis City Council. Legislative authors expect to introduce stadium legislation on Monday, March 5.
Video: Watch The Full Stadium Announcement Press Conference
Audio: Listen To The Full Stadium Announcement Press Conference
Audio: Mark Wilf on KFAN with Paul Allen
Audio: R.T. Rybak on KFAN with Paul Allen
Click the links below to view various stadium-related documents as PDFs.
Downtown East New Stadium Plan
Downtown East New Stadium At-A-Glance
Downtown East New Stadium Status Report
Downtown East New Stadium – FAQ
Quick Hits – New Stadium Benefits
Downtown East New Stadium Creates Jobs
Recent NFL Stadiums
All I know about the Minnesota football fans was related in an incident in the 90’s when they could not even sell out a playoff game, and thus it had to be blacked out. So called fans flocked to Wisconsin to watch it. Laughable.
Green Bay is much smaller, and they never have tickets available. Same goes with baseball in Minnesota. Milwaukee can support their team, Chicago has two teams and one historic field. But the fans of Minnesota need taxpayers help to survive. How sad. How laughable.
I lay odds the stadium looses money hand over fist, and the taxpayers will end up holding the bag. Again!
Its great to hear that my favorite team.. Will finally have a new stadium to play in.. The Metrodome was falling apart at the seams… btw the people own the stadium not the team playing in the stadium.. SKOL VIKINGS
bet this will make them play better!!! Then again get real. They suck and always will suck!!
The Vikings, Bahhhhhhhhhh.. That is all.
A team with no following (vikqueens), following an ideal of a team with a massive following (Green Bay). You would think they would have learned after using GB’s old coaches and oh yeah Farve that they may want to get an original idea or just sell the team to someone who will.
not that i really care or it will effect me, seeing as i don’t live in, shop in or even travel in Minnesota.
i still have a question makes me wonder, if as stated: all without using a single dollar of General Fund tax revenues. The stadium would be owned by the people of Minnesota and managed for their benefit year-round by a Public Authority.
if the “people” who live in Minnesota “own” it, then should they get to use it for free?
i bet just like no “general fund” money won’t be used, i bet the “people” will pay through the nose.
If the people are going to use it for free, they will need to share in the cost to maintain it. “Free” is a fantasy. The argument laid out in this story is really familiar. I think I’ve heard it before but it was in a meeting room at NIACC. The “by the numbers” sheet contains nothing about the cost and nothing about who is going to pay for the public share. A 30 year commitment from the Vikings means that the life span of this facility is 30 years. Will this facility generate enough money to help pay for a new one when it wears out or is this just going to be a publicly funded black hole? How much of the Minneapolis tax base will be lost to this project? I don’t think it’s going to float above the city. If it is owned by the people, it’s not going to pay any property taxes. What is the tradeoff for the community? Those are the kind of questions you need to ask when looking at building a hockey arena…oops, I mean football stadium.