The State's Latest Stadium Push

My cousin has one of those cool jobs that everyone asks him about every time they see him. He works for a stadium consultant company, so I always hit him up with some local stadium talk. It's like calling for Radiohead to play 'Creep' for the umpteenth-thousandth time, but he's a good sport and always obliges.

He directed me to this site (http://www.msfc.com/tour.cfm) with the following notes:

"The first link on the page is a brief summary of our analysis of the economic impacts a new Vikings stadium would generate. 

The second link is our full report from which that summary draws information. 

The third link is a presentation we’ve given to a couple of House committees, which largely re-hashes the same information, but also has some background on the Metrodome.

The fourth link is a study we worked on with RSM McGladrey that quantified the tax revenues generated by pro sports in MN dating all the way back to 1961." 

A few things stood out:
- Public investment into the Metrodome was $33.4 million; estimated tax revenue generated by the Metrodome was $245.6 million
- Of that $245.6 million, the largest amount was generated by the Vikings at $126.2 million
- 55% of the generated revenue came from player income tax (so any money spent elsewhere couldn't possibly account for this)

The state has made a haul with the Metrodome. I find it hard to believe they would leave that kind of money on the table. Which brings to mind another exchange I had with my cousin when the latest Viking stadium "push" made the news.

"The Vikings, the MSFC and my company were invited (my emphasis) by the House Commerce and Labor Committee," he wrote, "who requested information on what the economic impact of the Vikings is.  So we went and gave them that information.  It was not that the Vikings are renewing some stadium campaign – although obviously that topic came up because the clock is ticking on the lease."

So the Vikings aren't the only ones thinking about a new stadium. The state stands to lose a cash cow if a deal doesn't get done.