A deal has been reached to build a new Minnesota Vikings stadium in downtown Minneapolis near the site of the Metrodome, according to the Star Tribune.
The deal was reportedly reached Wednesday night after a day of closed-door meetings. The deal is expected to be announced Thursday morning at a Capitol press conference.
Two weeks ago the Star Tribune reported a tentative deal had been reached, but obstacles remained.
The report said the team, the city and the state would split the costs. The Vikings would contribute $427 million, the state, $400 million, and Minneapolis, $150 million. The city would also chip in about $180 million in operating costs over the next 30 years under the reported agreement. It’s unclear whether those details were included in the deal reached late Wednesday.
Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak has fought for any deal to include provisions that would provide money to renovate the city-owned Target Center, home of the NBA’s Timberwolves. That hasn’t been a popular idea among legislators. It wasn’t clear whether that provision was a part of the current deal.
Even with a tentative agreement in place, the stadium proposal would face several critical obstacles. First, a legislative bill would need to be introduced detailing the plan. Legislators have approximately half of a session remaining to vote on any potential bill. The session is scheduled to adjourn in late April.
There was talk several weeks ago about the Vikings playing as many as three seasons in TCF Bank stadium, a plan that the team claims would cost it nearly $50 million. That may have been necessary if the new stadium were built on the current site of the Metrodome and the existing facility needed to be torn down.
The Vikings and the University struck a tentative deal more than a week ago to allow the team to play games in TCF Bank Stadium during construction of a new stadium if necessary. The team could continue playing at the Metrodome once construction begins if the site is near, not on, the current facility’s plot, which would reduce the number of games it would need to play elsewhere.
The proposed stadium faces further opposition from a Minneapolis city charter, which requires a referendum on sports facilities that cost the city more than $10 million, and at least seven of its council members. Those seven members have publicly stated they oppose bypassing a referendum for any stadium deal.
Rybak said he wants to bypass the referendum. The Star Tribune reported the Legislature could grant a waiver of that requirement.