The Minnesota Vikings have not said how much money they would spend on a new stadium in Minneapolis, but Gov. Mark Dayton has some thoughts.
The governor, in his analysis Wednesday of three sites for the project, released data showing the team would have to contribute $428 million to a new stadium at the Metrodome, where the team has played for 30 years. Dayton's top stadium negotiator, Ted Mondale, said a new stadium at the Metrodome would cost $918 million.
If a stadium was built near the Basilica of St. Mary in downtown Minneapolis – a site both Dayton and the Vikings seem to be warming to – the team would have to put in $450 million, the data showed. On Wednesday, Mondale estimated the total cost of a stadium near the Basilica at $995 million.
Should a $1.09 billion stadium be built in Ramsey County's Arden Hills with a $300 million contribution from the county, the team's share would be $408.9 million. Should the Arden Hills project go forward without a county contribution, the team's share would be $699.9 million.
The team has said that it would contribute $425 million to a stadium in Arden Hills, its preferred site.
In a letter Wednesday to Vikings owner Zygi Wilf, the governor said that any public subsidy for a new stadium "should be less than 50 percent of [the] total costs."
Although Dayton had long maintained that any state contribution to a Vikings stadium would be capped at $300 million, the governor acknowledged Wednesday that the amount would likely be more than that.
The data released by the governor's office now shows a state contribution of $340 million at the Metrodome, $395 million at the Basilica site and either $350 million or $395 million in Arden Hills, depending on whether Ramsey County contributes to the project.
