NEW ULM - Now may not be the best time for the Minnesota Legislature to consider the question of a new stadium for the Minnesota Vikings, Vikings officials admit.
Schools are short on funds, cities are experiencing state funding cuts, medical programs for the poor are being cut. It's not a good time to talk about stadiums.
But with the Vikings lease at the Metrodome due to expire in 2011, there is no other time, according to the Vikings.
Lester Bagley, vice president of public affairs for the Vikings, was in New Ulm Wednesday to explain the Vikings side of the story.
The Vikings complaints about the dome are the same as they have ever been. The stadium doesn't provide the kind of revenue that other NFL teams receive. The Vikings, said Bagley, are at the bottom of the heap in the NFL when it comes to team revenue.
Minnesota's NFC North partners - the Green Bay Packers, the Detroit Lions and the Chicago Bears - all make $30 million a year more from their stadiums than the Vikings.
While the Vikings benefit from receiving more in money through the NFL revenue sharing program, the NFL and other owners are growing impatient with the state's inability to build a new stadium for the Vikings.
The Dome lacks a lot of amenities that other stadiums give their fans. Its narrow corridors make it hard to get around during intermissions. "If you want to get a hot dog or go to the bathroom at half time, you have to make a choice," said Bagley. "You can't do both."
The Vikings feel there is support for a new stadium to keep the team in Minnesota, but the state has been slow to act.
Four years ago, when the state approved legislation to build a new Twins ball park and a new on-campus football stadium for the University of Minnesota, the Vikings were told that "We can't afford to build three stadiums. If you step back we'll take care of you next year," said Bagley.
Since then, the state has been ignoring the Vikings, said Bagley.
Bagley said the issue is coming up for a discussion in the current session, and there are ways to finance it without dipping into the state's general fund.
The proposed cost of a new stadium with a retractable roof is about $870 million said Bagley, about twice what it would have cost in 2001.
An open-air stadium would be about $670 million. The Vikings feel they could contribute about one third the cost of an open air stadium, or $233 million. Bagley said the cost of a retractable roof should be paid by those who benefit from it, and the Vikings could play without it.
A 30-year bond to pay for the stadium would require between $29 million and $42 million a year, said Bagley.
The Vikings think the taxes they generate, which totaled over $18 million in 2008, could be dedicated to the cost of paying the bonds. And with a new stadium, the Vikings could generate some $26 million in taxes. Surcharges and taxes on business generated by the Vikings and the stadium, hospitality taxes, "Racino" gambling or a dedicated lottery game could also be used to generate revenue for the stadium bonds.
Bagley said the state has been the beneficiary of revenue as a result of the Dome since it opened, and no state money was involved in that construction, he said. So it's only fair that that state participate in the construction of a new stadium, he said.