I'm surprised to see this didn't end up happening in Arden Hills. What happened to that plan? Was clean up too expensive?

Agreed, Bobby. I'm happy as a clam the bill passed but would love to have seen it in Arden Hills.

I'm just happy I'll get to take my then-9-year-old son to a home game. Somewhere. Period

Great to see Vikings stadium deal get done!
I mean, it sure would suck not having the Vikings around for the PACKERS to BEAT UP ON!

I like that the stadium will be downtown. There's just something about the atmosphere down there when you go to see a ball game. I feel the same if I head to Xcel Energy Center in downtown St. Paul. Richfield Patch readers got a little heated about it yesterday on Facebook. Multiple sides. I attached a screenshot of the conversation.

Here's one reaction. Vikings fans break into song at state cap: http://www.twitvid.com/FH6VQ

I am happy for the Vikings and their fans, especially Cory Merrifield from SavetheVikes.org and now I hope that the Mpls City Council gets it right. That said, I still think the BEST place for the stadium would have been Shakopee. :-)

We had a LOT of fun with our Shakopee bid, but truth be told, it seems to me like it belongs in Minneapolis.

It's going to be nice seeing the Packers beat the Vikings in a shiny new stadium ;)

What do folks think about the portion of the deal (http://www.startribune.com/local/blogs/150950835.html) that overrides a portion of the Minneapolis charter saying voters should get a say if the city spends more than $10 mil on a pro sports facility. Mayor Rybak has argued that the money that funds the city's contribution is really state money? I'm no lawyer, but his argument has always struck me as a little fishy.

Yeah soooooo happy it passed!! After all they are and will always be the MN Vikings!!!! Skol!

Not happy, that money could be better spent for other things.

I am done giving LA our sports teams. They can get there own from some where else!

Glad it's over but I think the public money could have better used as well. Get ready, the st.paul saints will be next to get in line for a publicly funded stadium and our state will still be broke.

Wonderfull news, the Vikings really needed a new place to play in. The roof was destroyed last year impacting their play time at the dome. Remember they had to play a crucial game out of town, not fair to fans or players.

Noticed Senator Wiger voted for the stadium, good vote Senator Wiger on a priority project. You must understand the Vikings could have left town, where would we be then?

Getting this out of the way now might allow the next Legislative session to fund lower priorities like schools, police, fire, flood control, etc etc.

We should be spending the money in areas that are needed! Schools,roads,bridges,ect. And second of all when have the vikings ever proved that they deserve a new stadium? If the nfl and the vikings want it so bad they should pay for it! Not a single penny should come from tax payers! And evertyones wonders why our country is in debt! Stupid things just like this!!

I've lived in the Twin Cities area for nearly 18 years now. For all but like four days of that time, I've heard seemingly endless chatter of one team or another needing a new ballpark, arena or stadium. I hope this marks the end of stadium talk for at least a week or two.

Awesome news. The Vikings are so much more than just football to this state. The new stadium does come with a Super Bowl, right? ;)

Vikings could leave town! Schools, police, fire and flood control are lower priorities? This is not the state it use to be. Our priorities and morality do not connect anymore. I can't believe he said that.

Here are some of the reasons I and several of my colleagues supported the stadium bill, some of which never made it into the news coverage about the proposal: 1) The funding source provides significant tax relief to charitable gambling organizations, many of which are really struggling under an excessive tax burden, and which support our local veterans, sports, and arts organizations; 2) an independent analysis shows that over $800 million in tax revenues will come into the State as a result of a new facility, $560 million of which comes in from out-of-state sources and otherwise would not have been realized; 3) the team and NFL ended up kicking in nearly half a billion dollars for a facility they will only use about 10 days per year, leaving the rest of the time available for other public uses; 4) historically, when a pro sports franchise leaves, communities seek a replacement franchise at 3-5 times the cost of keeping the original team; and 5) we had more constituents contact us about supporting this proposal than on any other issue... ever.

better now than in 5-8 years when the costs would be out of site - now we just need to clear out ALL those who are our so-called representitives in state gov't. and start with new blood!

Glad to see our money going to waste. The Vikings can go anywhere but a new stadiu, and those is coming from a football fan.

There's nothing like a stadium-related poll in Minnesota to get lots of input and opinions...

Thomas nelson you need to understand that under no circumstances can the taxpayers of minnesota afforrd this at this point in time! What are our kids and grandkids going to think when they look back at our generation? I think I know! How stupid could our fathers and grandfathers be? Our nation is spinning out of controll into a deep dark pit of DEBT! Our polititions have all failed us and now headed to a communist nighmare that has allready begun!! Wake up so we can give our children and grandchildern a fighting chance otherwise us and our offsping will be doomed!!!!

Why can we find money for a new stadium when we have to borrow money from our local school districts to balance a budget? Ultimately we need to get our priorities in order. Oh, and when you go to your favorite watering hole to purchase pulltabs, you can choose to either help out local charities and buy the paper tabs or you can play the electronic version to help pay for the stadium. This might be the time to get your priorities right!

I'm glad this waste of space and money isn't going to be in Shakopee.

It's awesome that we got our New Vikings Stadium as I expected and they are here to stay! Shame on those in the MN House and the MN Senate for voting against this bill. They are totally clueless as to the ramifications if we would have lost them to another city. They are part of Minnesota culture, our lives, and an asset to our state. I bleed purple. Show your horns. Skol Vikings!!!

I'm originally from Wisconsin so I'm a Packer fan. The rivalry with my co-workers is 'fun' so I'm glad they are staying. But who is going to have to pay for the cost overruns that are sure to happen?

I am completely opposed to any public money being spent on big sports particularly in difficult economic times. But i also understand the phrase issued by Juvenal in Roman times: give them bread and circuses.

Not happy but would have bet my retirement dollars that it would turn out this way. Not unlike the many years of the Twins stadium battle. Didn't the taxpayers repeatedly say they didn't want to fund that...and we know how that turned out. There are a lot more important things that we could be spending public dollars on

meh...I'm more happy to be done hearing about it. There are so many more items that need the attention & money from our state. The playground bullies got their attention AND their way, once again....I'm so over it.

I think we could have accomplished the same thing with a referendum.

NOT happy! There are many more things the money SHOULD be spent on! If the rich players + owners want a new stadium then the team and the people ATTENDING the games should pay for it! We are a much more diverse state then years ago and I bet many of our new residents(who pay taxes) won't be going to see a game. Also, I would MUCH rather go see a high school game when the players put their heart + soul into wanting to win and they're not playing "for the almighty dollar". Many pros seem to think they're above the law and can do anything + get away with it and they do-not good role models anymore. And why should a losing team be awarded a new stadium? There is nothing wrong with "The Dome" they HAD to have either-the roof was just repaired at HOW much money? They wouldn't let US vote since they KNEW it wouldn't pass!

Very Happy...It's Great For Minnesota. (although this should of happened 6 years ago).

All the haters can gladly move to a non-pro-sports state if they don't agree with making our State a better place to live. It's only about 2 hours straight South on 35W :-)

Alright - now that's done with, what else can we resolve today?

A disgusting display of political cynecism by our elected representatives and a disgusting display of childish Hoo-Rah by some football fans apparently lacking much sense of the bigger picture. Do you decorate the hedge when the house is burning down? Do you give a glitzy new stadium to already-wealthy football magnates when the economy is in shambles. SHAME!! SHAME!! STUPID!! STUPID!!

Why can the legislators vote for a stadium yet balk at truly supporting things such as infrastructure, the social safety nets, and public education (to name just a few worthy items)?

Awful priorities. I am glad to have a professional sports team here, but we gave in to the petulant league representatives instead of thinking through what was best for Minnesota. Instead of a football-specific stadium, we could have planned something that might attract an MLS team and other uses; furthermore, we could have held the NFL's feet to the fire to demand a certain degree of charitable involvement in exchange for the public contribution. This has been an awful session, with another counterproductive constitutional amendment, bad taxation priorities and not much else to show for it.

We spend enough money on the arts, education and welfare and some of us don't appreciate it all that much or complain about it as much as folks have about the stadium. All the naysayers on Target Field have shut their mouths. Is it too much to ask to have a full boat of sports teams? I believe we'd like to remain a major metropolitan area. This is a wonderful place to live. I only hope we get a local owner and a Super Bowl win in my lifetime.

All the people worried about education and any other areas with "deficits" can certainly write a check to support them or donate supplies. I'm not convinced public money is being handled wisely in many areas. People don't often put their money where their mouth is. They want everyone else to pay for it.

Season ticket holder...nuff said!

Very unhappy that so many of our legislators and governor show yet again how little they care about the opinions of those they theoretically represent. I guess every dark cloud can have at least one encouraging lining, though. At least they ended up sticking it to Minneapolis and not northern Ramsey County.

So the party that hates the rich, Dayton and his ilk, has managed to pass a stupidity tax on the ignorant to fund a playground for the 1 percenters that they can't stand. Now we have a crappy football team locked in for 30, a crappy baseball team for another 20 some, a crappy hockey team for just plain too long...hmmm, suppose Taylor isn't ready to talk a new Wolves arena? Might as well just hand him the checkbook too.

I wish you'd had a "I don't give a crap anymore, thank God the discussion and politics are (hopefully) over" button on the poll.

That said, I did click "no" above because I'm pretty ticked they passed this, but couldn't find space for the SW Lightrail, which would have done a lot for businesses the whole route, so shortsighted.

@Jim—Lake St. Croix Bridge? I grew up in Stillwater ... it's most often called the St. Croix River, not lake.

Also, all the masquerading for the cameras last night... Wilf and Dayton made me sick. "OH we're so proud to have Ziggy here." "Oh we are SO excited to stay in Minnesota, the Vikings belong here" (which is why you threatened to leave right?) It was embarrassing.

Reminds me of Rome near the end. As Rome fell, the populous cried for more and more sporting venues.

Great heated discussions.

Glad it's almost over. Maybe next session our legislature can remember how they worked in a bipartisan fashion (both for and against the stadium) and work together to do what's best for the people of MN instead of what's best for the Democrat or Republican party (naw - that won't happen - it'll go back to Party first, People last).

For those people who bought into the rhetoric from the Vikes and the NFL that it's impossible to win without a new stadium and that a new stadium will darn near guarantee playoffs and Super bowls ----- look at the Twins since they built their new ballpark. The winning that the Vikes and NFL mean is that Wilf wins because he's got lots more money/prestige.

Ken if anyone believes a new stadium results in more wins, then they don't know anything about sports. The stadium has nothing to do with the success or failure of a team. The stadium was all about the business. Ken, find me the quote where Bagley actually said they would move, he never once said it. Not in 10 years. He's said all along the goal was to stay in Minnesota. Now they are staying so it doesn;t matter what the haters think.

I'm disappointed, this isn't the sort of thing that should be gifted/paid for by government. Although I like the new Twins Structure the way the tax for that was levied was illegal, but unchallenged so it stood. I'm sure I'll like the structure and I'm glad it's in Minneapolis but this isn't the sort of thing that should be financed. A bonding bill should be taken out for things like the southwest corridor light rail, not for a privately held business.

Just glad I don't have to hear about this any longer...

Oh - and don't hold your breath for a Super Bowl win...

For decades there was a stadium that was shared by a football team that played almost all its games on Sunday, with another that played almost all its games on Saturday. Other than for the purpose of stroking a few academic egos, why do the Gophers need their own little place? OK, I'll concede that the Vikings will need somewhere to play for a season or so during construction. Why else? Two football stadiums a mile apart makes as much sense as two legislative houses in St. Paul. Well, almost as much sense.

It's too fancy, and it's too expensive....BUT it secured the Vikings future in Minnesota, so that was important!

Really bad bill filled with lots of special money to buy votes. Lots of irregular rule bending and legislative procedure. Lots of crony monopoly corporatist welfare game playing - the sort that Democrats always cry the most about (but always vote for). I really don't care if a Vikings stadium is built or not..... but it's absolutely a crime to see that this fiasco of a bill is being bankrolled by the taxpayer if yet another form of gambling doesn't pay enough. This should have been totally financed by user fees.

For those that are cheering about this misappropriation of public money to subsidize your passion -- how can you in any justification ever expect this state (much less the country) to get a handle on its' finances? You need to know that in the next session - the use of gambling as a future revenue source will be off the tables - so when the legislature needs to patch up the budget - where do you think they will be looking to find money for HHS or Education? You know it -- increased taxes!

While I would disagree with Sen John Marty (DFL Roseville) 95% of the time on most of his political views -- he was 100% correct in stating that taking public money for entertainment purposes is a very poor choice in priorities. Subsidizing any business is bad business. Why should government be picking winners and losers?

Never seen Ziggi so happy.

All the Vkings fans were rejoicing aroud him and he was giddy.

Wonder if his mind he was thinking "I just got away with $400,000,000+- and these taxpayers are cheering". I'll bet he was so excited you know what may have been happening.

I see this as extortion. The Vikings threatened to leave if the state did not hand over hundreds of millions of dollars for a new stadium. Yes, the team will bring hundreds of millions back into the state, but here is the problem I have....they could afford to pay for this themselves - they simply wanted a handout! This is a for-profit entertainment business that pays 46 of it's part-time employees nearly $75 million a year. They could afford to pay for this themselves!

Susan, when I first saw your comment I thought: Exactly. What if 3M wanted to build a parking lot and threatened to leave without state funds to help build it?

But then I figured, nobody wants to go watch a parking lot. So it's a little different.

I think most people like having the Vikings, and talking about them really does unite a lot of Minnesotans (at least fantasy football players). There's an intrinsic value to having an NFL team in town, for which it's hard to assign a dollar amount.

This kind of thing really wouldn't happen in any other industry... that I can think of anyway.

I predicted two weeks ago that legislators would find a way to get this done. It seems a lot of people got pulling in the same direction and surprise, surprise, it got done.

As a former Dallas, TX gal, I am all too familiar with the religion known as "professional football" (We still take our hat off when someone says "Tom Landry"). No matter how one may feel about this issue, (and am not a football fan) it was inevitable that a new stadium would happen. This is football, and after the experience of watching Jerry Jones and his Cowboys get their new stadium, nothing surprises me. No matter what other issues are on the table, football rules.

Is there ANY REASON that I have to scroll to the bottom of the page to make a comment???
AND, why,oh why ~~ are the comments posted from the OLDEST to the NEWEST??

I have watched the Vikings at a stadium, a total on ONE time!! ONCE!!
Tell me why I should have to pay for a NEW stadium for some over-paid jocks that run around on MY grass, in MY county, in MY state, while I get nothing out of it??
The 'once' was down in Bloomington ~~ Then we got the WHINING from grown men, "Why can't we have a dome like all the other teams have"?? So, they got it!!!
Then we got more WHINING from grown men, "Why can't we have a new open air stadium like all the other teams have"?? So, now they have that TOO!!!
I can't wait to see what they will be WHINING about in maybe 20 years!!! "Why can't we have a stadium on the moon like all the other teams have"???

NFL reminds me of an example of a supply and demand situation.

If there are 10 cities that can support an NFL team BUT only 9 NFL teams there will always be competition for a team.

However if there are 10 cities plying for an NFL team and 11 NFL teams then supply if larger than demand.

The NFL is playing games with its teams, always having cities needing a team and NEVER having more teams than cities that could use one.

Those capable of understanding this are not NFL/Vikings supporters.

So right now the people interested in voting on the stadium:47% NO 53% YES

Phone calls to the elected officials were 7 to 1 FOR a stadium.

Sorry to say a bunch of activist knotheads incumbered Minnesota and Minneapolis taxpayers to fork over $400,000,000 to build a Vikings stadium so Zigi cn see an increase in the value of his Vikings of $300,000,000.

And we claim to be "Minnesota Smart".

What I want to know is: why do we bother having a law that requires a public referendum if something is going to cost more than $10M in public funds, and it is never utilized???? Because the powers that wanted to ram this billionaire's boondoggle down Minneapolis taxpayer's throats knew it would never pass! Just sayin'

Explanation: Elected officials are easy to smoooze, once elected they have a personality change where they think they are king and queens and can just forget all the rules. After all rules are made to be broken, arn't they?

Of course every one of them can be voted OUT of office.

Joan: you are correct. The law should be amended to spell out that they cannot override it. Not holding the referendum is undemocratic, but this isn't the first time politicians give in to the temptation for less democracy.

I"m glad the statium is going to be built. Truly I am, I love the Vikings but I do feel like we were forced to approve this thing. Did we really ever have a choice? We had to figure out how to pay for it but I dont think there was ever a concern we'd actually just let the Vikings leave without a fight. My only concern is, considering the Metrodome was only built in 1982, 30 years ago, will 'they' want another stadium in another 30 years? What is the life expectency of this new stadium going to be? That should be given some serious consideration when designing it, knowing it will have to last more than 3 decades. Once this stadium is built it's time for this gravy train to end. This should be the LAST stadium of any kind to be built for a long, long, LONG time.

This area has a long history of building cheap stadiums. I loved Met stadium but it looked like somethng from the old Soviet Union. Thankfully all that has ended with Ecel and Target Field. I am hoping the new stadium is built to last.

Expect in about 30 years there WILL BE demands by all professional sports franchises in the Twin Cities for new stadiums.

You see it has NOTHING to do with functionality, it's all about appearance and ammenities, like rest rooms, luxury seating, view of Minneapolis from the stadium, etc etc.

The Metrodome is 100% functional with a brand new roof. The Metrodome would last a long time as it is. A stadium much like the Metrodome was renovated in Canada for a fraction of the price of a completely new stadium.

There is one thing certian, once a new Vikings stadium is complete there WILL BE a Superbowl held in the new stadium AND the Vikings WILL become a winning football team just like the Twins have become a winning baseball team.

I remember a few years back listening to another owner of the Vikings complaining about the Metro Dome. He also wanted a new stadium because there isn't enough room in the present one for more luxury suites. It's all about the Big Bucks! Give me a million bucks and I'll come up with a plan to put in more suites and put a retractable roof on the dome. Nothing connected to this fiasco has anything to do with "Functionality". When it is finished, for half the cost, I'll give the taxpayers back the change from the million.

From a financial standpoint, it's a bad investment...particurlary for the city of Minneapolis who is on the hook for billions of dollars in operating costs over the next 20 years.

But then again, it's no worse than the Guthrie from that perspective...though a bit large in scale.

No. Bad timing. Also a lot of people cannot afford to go to a Vike's game. 5 years from now they will be whining about something else and they will want another new Stadium.