The Metropolitan Sports Facilities Commission last week announced a proposal with a price tag of $870 million to reconfigure its Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome to suit the National Football League's Minnesota Vikings.
The plan calls for a 65,000-seat stadium with a retractable roof. The commission said team revenues would grow by $31 million annually due to stadium enhancements.
The Vikings did not participate in the announcement and did not endorse the proposal. Team officials have been seeking legislative support for a new stadium and said their focus remains on swaying lawmakers to support a funding plan. Other sites might be more politically viable, team officials said in published reports.
The commission and team's relationship has grown frosty. The commission wants the team to extend its lease by two years through the 2013 season and has warned that it will reinstate its $4 million annual rent if it does not sign it. The team has not yet signed it.
There is little legislative support for public funding for a sports stadium in the coming session as the Minnesota grapples with a budget deficit due to declining revenue. The Vikings have shared the stadium with the Minnesota Twins and the University of Minnesota Gophers, but the Twins and Gophers have won legislative support for new stadiums so the Vikings will soon be the Metrodome's sole tenant.
