State senators are debating a stadium bill that would authorize a new $975 million home for the Minnesota Vikings. Like the House, the Senate began by making changes to the bill. They shifted $25 million of the cost from the state to the Vikings and instituted fees on souvenirs, parking, and luxury suites.
Another amendment approved by senators would prevent the state from overriding Minneapolis’ city charter. That could open the door to a citywide referendum on Minneapolis’ role in stadium funding plan.
After more than eight hours of debate, the House approved a version of the stadium bill late Monday night that would require the Vikings to shell out $105 million more than the original contribution. MinnPost has a breakdown on how each representative voted on House File 1485. Click here to read the revised stadium bill in the Minnesota House.
Senate Minority Leader Tom Bakk told MPR, “The House put some very, very bad amendments on the stadium bill. So the Senate clearly is going to have to do the hard work on this, and get the bill into the kind of condition where the Vikings, the city of Minneapolis will actually execute the provisions passed by the Legislature.”
NFL executive vice president of venture and business operations is not happy with some of the amendments made in by House lawmakers. “You can’t change the deal at the last minute.” The Pioneer Press also reminds us a stadium bill passed the House, but not the Senate in 2006.
The latest amendment to be adopted is the ban of all local television blackouts for Vikings’ home games in the new stadium. While it seems like a good idea for Minnesotans, the NFL may have a problem with the plan.
Watch live coverage of the Senate debate on the Vikings stadium bill below:
Watch live streaming video from uptakemnsenate at livestream.com
Watch a replay of the House debate on the Vikings stadium below:
Watch live streaming video from theuptake2 at livestream.com
