In Minneapolis, a recent Star-Tribune report showed electronic pulltabs have successfully—and surprisingly—helped fund U.S. Bank Stadium. In fact, the report said charitable gambling revenue has so significantly filled the stadium’s reserve account, the state projected it does not need to issue a $20 million corporate tax to fill the reserve. State officials said the reserve could hold $193 million by 2023. The bottom line is U.S. Bank Stadium, like Target Field, could pay off its loan debt nearly a decade early, saving about $300 million.
Lester Bagley, Vikings executive vice president for public affairs, said, “Now that the original funding source, the electronic pulltabs, are coming in a lot faster than they originally were, the account is growing, the stadium reserve is growing up over $200 million over the next five years. We think you should take that money and refinance the stadium deal. Cut a number of years off the term of the debt and save the taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars in finance cost. That’s where the situation is.”
He added, “U.S. Bank Stadium is, in Year 3, proving to be a great result. First of all, it’s an incredible fan experience and a great stadium and a great home-field advantage for the Vikings. But it has been a great success for the public and for the state of Minnesota. It’s a great asset.”
Bagley noted it took 12 years to pass the stadium financing deal, “and everything we said and argued and advocated for with the benefits of this stadium have come true. He noted under the original stadium deal, the Vikings contributed $477 million, the state gave $348 million and the city of Minneapolis raised $150 million through a hospitality tax.
“It was a very fair deal. It’s turning into being a model of a very successful, public-private partnership and a great asset. It not only delivered economic impact–the whole Downtown East area is growing gangbusters, more than $2 billion in investment, we got the Super Bowl, Final Four–but we also now have the opportunity to pay it off in a little more than 20 years and have it owned completely by the state and no more debt on it. It has been a tremendous success. To complete the story, let’s pay it off early and make it a great success, a model for other states and communities that are going through these same issues,” Bagley said.
