Johnson and mayor R.T. Rybak are on record about keeping the Vikings in the city. “That’s important to us,” Johnson said.
In May Johnson and the mayor announced a comprehensive plan that would help fund a stadium, renovate Target Center, and provide property tax relief by using various taxes including a city wide extension of the food and liquor sales tax. The city council has not yet been asked to approve such a plan.
A covered Vikings stadium would serve as a community facility and entertainment venue. Its uses will mirror that of the Metrodome including hosting high school and small college sports. A new facility would also be expected to attract a large number of high profile events, perhaps ranging from NCAA basketball tournaments to truck pulls to concerts.
The central location of downtown with access to public transportation is just one of the reasons Minneapolis boosters hope the stadium will eventually be located in the city rather than in Arden Hills. They argue, too, that the success of Target Field demonstrates the appeal of a downtown facility to local sports fans. It’s important to have such attractions to maintain the economic health of downtown and the inner city, the financial heart of the region, according to Minneapolis boosters.
Meanwhile in Los Angeles (a rumored landing spot for the Vikings), the city council is facing an end of the month deadline regarding a memorandum of understanding for a new football stadium. The issue, of course, is controversial and probably more so now after a recent article in the Wall Street Journal characterized the Cincinnati Bengals stadium deal with Hamilton County as “one of the worst professional sports deals ever struck by a local government.”
The stadium’s expense last year was $34.6 million, or 16.4 percent of the county budget, according to the Journal.