Lester Bagley was looking a year ahead last week when he spent one hour talking with Sports Headliners about U.S. Bank Stadium. The Vikings’ vice president for stadium development said the NFL franchise will receive keys to the new downtown Minneapolis multi-use facility on July 29, 2016.
That date will symbolize the end of a journey for Bagley and the Vikings going back to the last century. The Vikings began lobbying for a new stadium in the late 1990s and Bagley initially joined the effort about 15 years ago as a consultant. For the last 10 years he’s been a club employee and key figure in the stadium saga including legislative efforts and stadium construction. He is now part of a stadium project team working for the Wilf family that controls Vikings ownership. The project group includes Vikings front office executives Steve LaCroix, Steve Poppen and Kevin Warren.
With the construction timeline on schedule for the $1.1 billion covered stadium, the timing was appropriate to talk with Bagley a year out from when the Vikings will be playing preseason games in their new home. Bagley spoke about how U.S. Bank Stadium could be a noisier stadium than the Metrodome, why team ownership probably isn’t done spending additional money on the publicly-privately financed facility, and that despite rumors a few years ago the Vikings never made plans to relocate. He also said the franchise will significantly improve its revenues and financial standing among NFL clubs at U.S. Bank Stadium.
Bagley is excited about the stadium and proud of the deal that will result in a facility used for a long list of events beyond the Vikings home schedule—10 games per year, plus possible playoff dates. The club will pay $10 million for annual rent, a figure Bagley said is the highest in the league. The new facility will host the Super Bowl in 2018 and college basketball’s 2019 Final Four. On a smaller scale, the stadium will be used many days a year for events like high school and college baseball games. (Note: unless the Vikings are involved as a promoter of an event in the stadium, the NFL club will not financially benefit.)
Bagley answered the following questions, with replies shortened for clarity and space considerations.
Q. Did you envision a stadium of this quality 10 years ago?
A. No. Over the last few months is when we’ve started to grow more confident that this stadium is actually going to be a game changer. That it’s going to be the best stadium in the league. It’s going to be the best fan experience—the most technologically advanced. With its indoor-outdoor space, its 60 percent clear roof—combined with the (five) pivoting glass doors (95 feet tall at their peaks)—we’re confident that this is going to deliver all the things that we advocated for and more.
Q. What is the most frequent question about the stadium and how do you answer it?
A. There’s an insatiable appetite by the public about the stadium construction. We get a lot of questions about the roof material. That’s the ETFE product, the ethylene-tetrafluoroethylene. It is a very durable, transparent fabric. Combined with the pivoting doors, it’s going to provide that indoor-outdoor experience.
We also believe based on feedback from the engineers and developers of this roof material, that the stadium is going to be loud. It’s going to be a home field advantage because this material is more acoustically reflective than the old Teflon (roof) at the Metrodome. We think it’s going to reverberate, and then we’ve got 40 percent of the roof that is going to be…metal.
It’s also going to be an intimate stadium (with fans close to the field).
Q. What element do you think fans will most be talking about?
A. I think they’re going to love the doors and I think they’re just going to love the feel of the place. It’s going to be such a dramatic difference and improvement from the Metrodome. It’s night and day. When you walk in, you can see all the way around. There will be views as you walk through the concourse (and) you can see into the bowl.
The old dome was a concrete bunker. Once you were out in the hallway you were jammed and then you couldn’t see anything. This is going to be two and three times wider in the concourses with views into the stadium. There will be lots of places to hang out, to watch the game. We think it’s in line with what the Twins delivered (at Target Field). We think the Twins ballpark is beautiful, contemporary. We think on the other end of town we’re going to match that.
Q. How much extra money have the Vikings owners contributed to the stadium to ensure all the amenities are included? And with additional expenditures, is the stadium still going to allow the Vikings to be profitable?
A. The legislation passed in 2012 had the private side putting in $477 million and public $498 million. Since the bill passed, the Wilf family has invested an additional $95 million, and that money may go up from there. Sort of 95 and counting. Fortunately our owners are willing to do that because they want to protect the vision and the great fan experience that we promised we would deliver. The only way to do it—since there’s no more money from our partner on the public side—is to invest additional dollars.
The Metrodome put us at the bottom of the NFL in terms of revenues (with the Oakland Raiders). There were just no opportunities. Now we’re not going to be at the top (among NFL franchises), but we’re going to be at the upper middle.
…I think this stadium is going to provide all the revenue opportunities that we need to be competitive and to be successful. We didn’t have them (the resources) at the dome—and that’s the premium seats for clubs and suites, the sponsorships, the signage, the (stadium) naming rights, and things like that we didn’t have necessarily at the old building.
This stadium solution is going to work great for the state, for the public. It also secured the team (for Minnesota).
Q. How clear is it the franchise will be profitable annually?
A. We’re still selling (revenue sources involving tickets and corporate commitments etc.). We will know after that first year in the stadium but, yes, we should be out of the red and into the black to be competitive in this league.
Q. In retrospect, with the extra $95 million spent, would it have been a good idea to build a stadium with a retractable roof?
A. We looked long and hard at it. It’s a lot of money to add to a stadium for a roof that’s open maybe three or four games a year. Look at Indy (Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis). The first year they opened it up like five-six times. As the years went on, they only opened it up I think three or four times a year.
We just felt that for this market, for this climate, and for this fan experience, we gravitated toward that clear roof and pivoting doors. Leave those doors open as long as we can during the season. Get a real good feel for the weather…and then have the luxury of closing it up on brutally cold days at the end of the season and for the playoffs.
Q. After securing a stadium deal has it been financially rewarding for you and other key members of the Vikings management team?
A. Well, it’s been job security for all of us, and it’s been a labor of love. The Wilfs have been loyal to us and have been great to work for. No complaints there. We’ve got a great team with Steve Poppen, Steve LaCroix, Kevin Warren and Don Becker. The five of us are kind of the leads on the project. Don Becker coming from the Wilfs real estate development company fits in well. He’s got the real estate and development experience that none of us have. This is our first stadium. We’ve learned a lot.
We’ve got a great team and so that’s what’s been most rewarding. One year to go (for the stadium opening), and then we’ve got a Super Bowl coming. We’ve got other major projects coming, and then we’ve gotta run this stadium, and make it work for our fans as well.
Q. When will the first time be that thousands of Minnesotans can walk into the stadium? What will the event be?
A. We’re working on that right now with the stadium authority and with SMG, the building manager. We’re talking about what event is appropriate. We’re also kicking around the concept of some sort of opening ceremony that would be an open house for the public to kind of come in and kick the tires.
It’s got to be somewhere after July 29 and somewhere before about mid-August because that’s when we start our preseason games. We may play our first two preseason games on the road in 2016 to give us another couple of weeks to sort of kick off Vikings football. We’ll have some ability to provide some input on scheduling, but not much. The NFL does their own thing.
Q. Did the Vikings come close to giving up during all those frustrating years of trying to win legislative approval for a new stadium? Were the Wilfs close to relocating the franchise?
A. I don’t know that we ever gave up, nor were we ever ready to relocate. There were times when it appeared it might not be possible to resolve this issue—which was frightening and the consequences were significant. I don’t believe the Wilfs would have ever moved this team. But at some point if there’s no solution they may have sold the team to somebody else. There was definitely interest in the team from other markets.
Our (stadium) strategy was simple: we went to the capitol for 12 years. We tried to build momentum, and persistence and perseverance. Build that momentum and that coalition of support from business, labor, fans and elected officials…in hopes of getting a breakthrough, and fortunately we did.
Q. How will you personally react when the keys to the stadium are given to the Vikings?
A. (Laughs). I don’t know. Kevin Warren says, I am gonna cry like a baby. I don’t know about that. …This building is going to exceed everything we advocated for many years. The jobs, the economic development, the growth in downtown east. The stadium has been a catalyst. The world class events (coming). We’ve already got the Super Bowl and the Final Four. The college football (national title game) on its way—more than likely. A Wrestlemania. Those things will be very rewarding.
Q. What about hosting the Big Ten Football Championship Game that has been played exclusively at Lucas Oil Field in Indianapolis?
A. We very much expect to be in the rotation for that game going forward.
Q. Why was it important to locate the stadium in Minneapolis?
A. We basically looked under every rock at every location. Ultimately we realized that we didn’t really have a say where the stadium was going to be built. The public—who was investing significantly—had the most to say about the location.
In hindsight we couldn’t be happier. We think it’s the ideal location. It’s right on the light rail line. It’s right on the edge of downtown. It’s accessible to 394 and 94, 35W, 55. It’s a catalyst for all the economic growth that’s going on down there. It (downtown) was also the most cost effective location given that the 55 acres for the Metrodome site were contributed. We didn’t have to acquire more property.
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