The scale and circumstances are very different from today's $1 billion Vikings stadium debate, but a Minneapolis hockey arena may be the state's only other example of a sports facility backed by pulltabs.

In 1996, the Edison Youth Hockey Association used pulltab revenues to fund a $2.2 million ice arena in Northeast Minneapolis, partly with a loan that was backed by the city.

But when charitable gambling revenues took a dive and Minneapolis ice hockey declined, the city was left in the lurch. It started making the association's lease payments — to the tune of $186,818 — and was eventually forced to sell the property to the Park Board for $710,000. It was later renamed the Northeast Ice Arena.

Pulltabs made the deal possible. Edison made an $800,000 down payment with money it had accumulated from pulltab operations at three Northeast bars: Sully's, Arones and Laura's 1029.

There were concerns about using the same revenue stream to back a long-term loan, however. Edison's pulltab revenues were at their lowest levels since 1991, according to a Star Tribune story from the time, and some thought they weren't stable enough.

Paul Erickson, who heads the Minnesota Amateur Sports Commission, told the Star Tribune in 1996 that cities were "nervous about using pulltab revenue because it's not reliable." That's because circumstances can change quickly, whether it's due to a statewide smoking ban or a bar changing ownership.

He's not ready to make the same conclusions about the Vikings stadium deal, which would allow for electronic pulltabs and use the extra taxes to pay for the state's share of the stadium.

"I think you could argue that in the macro sense, charitable gambling tax proceeds would be more reliable because you're looking at the whole state," Erickson said. "I think charitable gambling becomes more unreliable in a local setting because of the changes that can occur."

Backers of the Edison deal note that it fell through in part because of suburban rinks that opened and drew away revenue from ice time. Tony Ferraro, who served as the association's president in the 1990s, said a state tax increase lowered pulltab revenue before the arena was built, but Edison hoped to make up for it with money from groups using the rink.

"We anticipated selling all the ice time," Ferraro said. "We lost all the revenue from all the open things we had there."

A Park Board report from 2006 draws a more direct link to pulltabs. "The primary reason for the decline in the finances of [Edison] was due to a decline in charitable gambling proceeds from pull tab operations."

Former City Council Member Walt Dziedzic, who pushed the deal through City Hall and later sat on the Park Board when it bought the property, said it would have been impossible to build without pulltabs. He pointed in particular to Edison's sizable down payment.

"If I were to do another [amateur] hockey arena, in a minute I would go to pulltabs," Dziedzic said.