ST. PAUL, Minn. -- The Minnesota Vikings' hopes of a new stadium are one affirmative vote away from becoming reality.
Only a state Senate vote stands between the franchise and the $975 million stadium the Vikings would move into ahead of the 2016 season. The House passed the stadium plan early Thursday by a 71-60 vote.
The stadium would lock down a treasured team no longer bound by a stadium lease, but also would go down as the one of the largest subsidized projects in state history at a time of tight government budgets.
The reworked bill has the Vikings paying $477 million, a significant cut above the figure team officials had once described as "set in stone." Though the package was tougher, it was clearly the team's only chance to replace the Metrodome, a 30-year-old facility the Vikings say has outlived its usefulness.
Vikings vice president Lester Bagley said the team's billionaire owners, New Jersey developers Zygi and Mark Wilf, decided to lock in the deal rather than hold out for better terms, knowing the Legislature had only two days left to act.
"It is a heavy lift but it is the right thing to do for Minnesota," Bagley said.
The Vikings intend to take advantage of an NFL loan program, sell naming rights and possibly impose seat license fees to help cover the team's end of construction costs.
As revised, the fixed-roof stadium would draw on $348 million in state money, plus $150 million from an existing city of Minneapolis hospitality tax.
Under the bill, the Vikings would sign a 30-year lease on a stadium to be built on the site of the Metrodome in Minneapolis. The team would pay about $13 million annually in operating fees, though a public authority gets the power to rent out the building on non-game days for concerts, conventions and special events. The Wilfs would get exclusive rights to recruit a professional soccer team to Minnesota.
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The state's share was to come through expanded gambling, which some legislators opposed on principle. Others worried the state overestimated the money it would get by authorizing charitable organizations to offer electronic versions of pull tabs, a low-tech paper game offered in bars and restaurants around the state.
Rep. Morrie Lanning, a Republican who was the stadium's chief House advocate, said getting the required votes depended on upping the team contribution by $50 million. The team long said it would give no more than $427 million.
"We knew we had to drive a hard bargain and we drove a hard bargain," he said.
If the Senate gives its OK later Thursday, the bill goes to Gov. Mark Dayton for his signature. The city of Minneapolis would have a month to consent, which is considered a formality.
Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press
