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Apr 3, 2008 7:56 am US/Central
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In The Know: We Need A Vikings Consensus
(WCCO)
The Vikings made news off the football field Wednesday. The Minnesota Senate rejected studying plans for another new stadium. Don Shelby said lawmakers weren't objecting to the cost.
No, what the Senate was objecting to is agreeing to another study. There have been a lot of them.
This one would cost about $2 million. The Vikings and the Sports Facilities Commission would pay for it. One senator was worried this would give the Vikings a foot in the door in arguing for public funding.
But, despite the objections, no owner of a professional football, basketball or baseball team has ever paid for a stadium without taxpayers helping.
The next thing we'll hear is the Vikings will be free to leave Minnesota in the year 2011 -- and absent a promise of a new stadium -- we are likely to hear that threat.
We probably don't need another study. What we do need is consensus on (A) how much the public is willing to pay to keep the Vikings in Minnesota, or (B) one that says to Mr. Wilf, build it with your own cash, and risk "No" for an answer, and the future of professional football in Minnesota that that answer portends.
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