Calling the 2018 Super Bowl headed to Minneapolis a "terrific opportunity," Gov. Mark Dayton on Tuesday thanked the team that mounted Minnesota's successful bid.

"Hosting the Super Bowl will provide a terrific opportunity to showcase Minnesota to the world," Dayton said in a statement issued by his office shortly after NFL owners voted to hold Super Bowl LII at the new Minnesota Vikings stadium.

"It will also bring major economic benefits to our state," Dayton said. Minneapolis was one of three finalists that also included Indianapolis and New Orleans. Minneapolis last hosted a Super Bowl in 1992.

The governor was a major booster of the push at the Capitol to provide state funding for the new stadium, which is under construction now and scheduled to open in time for the 2016 NFL season. The issue dominated much of Dayton's first two years in office, before the Legislature voted in May 2012 in favor of a $1 billion, public-private funding plan.

Dayton himself helped kick off Minnesota's official Super Bowl bid, in January. The state's effort was co-chaired by Ecolab CEO Doug Baker, former Carlson Companies CEO Marilyn Carlson Nelson, and U.S. Bancorp CEO Richard Davis, in coordination with the Vikings.