A stadium task force recommended Tuesday that two stadiums be built, one for the baseball Twins and one to be shared by the Vikings and the University of Minnesota football Gophers.

The 18-member panel, which will take a final vote on the recommendation Jan. 28, agreed that the stadiums should be paid for by team owners and, generally, by those who use the facilities or benefit from them.
It also included a general recommendation that the Legislature consider gambling operations as a potential funding source.
No location was specified for either stadium, though the Vikings have urged a shared stadium on the university's Minneapolis campus.
Stadium advocates welcomed the dual recommendation.
"For the first time, a credible party that includes legislators, citizens and cabinet members is recommending that we build two new facilities, and they're saying you can do this without raising
taxes on the average Minnesotan," said Lester Bagley, a lobbyist for the Vikings.
State Sen. Steve Kelley, DFL-Hopkins, a task force member, urged his colleagues to recommend legislative action on two stadiums, even though the Vikings have a lease to play at the Metrodome
through the 2011 season. He said the two stadiums would not have to be built at the same time.
"If we're going to move forward on this, we ought to talk about two facilities," he said.
But Kelley was cautioned by Rep. Tom Osthoff, DFL-St. Paul, also on the panel, that if the task force insists on two stadiums, "it's dead in the House."
State Finance Commissioner Pam Wheelock, another task force member, said refurbishing the Dome for football only should be included in the recommendations.
"I just know that's an important issue for one person who sits in a particular corner of the Capitol," she said, referring to Gov. Jesse Ventura, who has said he favors an overhaul of the Dome. But
Kelley said the recommendation for two stadiums presumes that a Dome facelift wouldn't work.
The recommendation on two stadiums and funding will be forwarded to the Legislature, which will convene Jan. 29.
The 13-4 vote with one abstention was seen as an incremental victory for the Twins and Vikings, but gambling interests were equally pleased, as the list of revenue sources to finance the
public's share of two stadiums included the general recommendation that the Legislature consider gambling operations.
Several gambling-related proposals to fund stadiums are floating in the Legislature, each with a different revenue potential. Among them:
- A sports-related special lottery scratch-off game.
- Authorization for casino-style slot machines at the Canterbury Park racetrack.
- A constitutional amendment that, if approved by voters, would authorize two private casinos. The casino owners would provide to the state $450 million in up-front money for stadium construction
and 10 percent of the annual gambling gross.
Will Haddeland, a task force cochairman, said he didn't know whether the identified revenue sources would be enough to finance a public share of two stadiums. The task force attached no costs to the stadiums, but estimates over the past year have been in the general area of $300 million for a baseball park and $500 million for a football stadium and parking structure. The professional teams and leagues would be required to foot part of the cost under
the task force recommendations.
But Haddeland acknowledged that the open-ended nature of the gambling recommendation provides the possibility that revenue could be sufficient.
The task force also agreed to recommend to the Legislature an additional 2 percent tax on car rentals at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport.
Task force members considered, but did not vote on, charging the news media for the space they occupy to cover games. "I don't think it's fair that some prime areas are used [by the media] to make money," said state Planning Director Dean Barkley, a task force member.
The task force consists of six members appointed by the House, six by the Senate and six by the governor. There are citizen members on the committee, such as Haddeland, a consultant to
Minnesota Public Radio. But most discussion has been dominated by legislators or members of Ventura's staff who were named to the panel.