On Wednesday, the Vikings stadium saga refused to die, as word came out that no official deal would be reached regarding a stadium in Minneapolis at or near the current site of the Metrodome. On top of that, things got a lot more murky, as a new stadium bill was introduced, or rather, a pair of bills. One of them was a plan re-kindling the chances of a stadium in Arden Hills, and the other was a plan designed to put just about all the cost on the team.
Addressing the first one, the Star Tribune reports that Representative Rod Hamilton, R-Mountain Lake, introduced legislation in regards to an Arden Hills stadium. Electronic bingo and pulltabs would help the state pay for it, while the Vikings would contribute $425 million toward it. Ramsey County would put up about $10 million a year when they have the funds available, while the state puts up the bulk at $549 million for construction and $101 million for public infrastructure.
There's a lot of issues with introducing this kind of bill ... namely the fact that the Vikings and Ramsey County have been pushing something nearly identical as much. It's going to be hard to pass, given the large state contribution. It's unlikely Minnesota would like to pay that.
Unfortunately, the other proposal is totally opposite to that one. Instead of having the state with a large contribution, it's a site-neutral plan to saddle the Vikings with more than 80 percent of the cost. That's just not feasible, as the Vikings are not one of the top teams in the league in regards to revenue. A new stadium under that plan wouldn't change that one bit. The Vikings say such a plan would not allow the Vikings to be competitive.
And it's true. That's an absurd amount for a team that is more valuable than that. It's shouldn't be a situation where the state makes the Vikings pay for it if they want to stay. In that scenario, the Vikings would surely relocate.
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