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St. Paul (AP) ― The Legislature geared up for a Saturday stadium doubleheader after negotiators signed off on financing plans for the Minnesota Twins and University of Minnesota football team.

Leaders predicted approval of the new stadiums for the current Metrodome roommates. The Twins bill will attract at least 80 House votes out of a possible 134, Speaker Steve Sviggum said. The 67-member Senate is also expected to have votes to spare.

The Twins, who are playing on a year-to-year lease, would get a $522 million ballpark. The Gophers would get a $248 million stadium on the Minneapolis campus. The Vikings must wait until next year to press their stadium case.

For the Twins, it represents the culmination of a decade-long hunt for stadium support. Their 42,000-seat stadium would be built in downtown Minneapolis, with natural grass and no roof. Since 1982, the Twins have played on artificial turf beneath the Metrodome's Teflon lid.

"We are closer than we've ever been to getting this thing done once and for all," said Rep. Brad Finstad, R-New Ulm, the stadium bill's House sponsor.

Gov. Tim Pawlenty said he is ready to sign the bill if the Legislature passes it.

"We don't want to lose our Minnesota Twins," he said. "For a lot of Minnesotans that would be like losing fishing."

The Twins proposal relies on a Hennepin County sales tax amounting to three cents on every $20 purchase. It would be enacted without a voter referendum. Twins owner Carl Pohlad would kick in $130 million.

Major construction probably wouldn't begin until 2007, with the stadium slated to open for the 2010 season.

Twins Sports Inc. president Jerry Bell said he can finally see daylight after fighting so hard for so long public subsidies.

"It's like winning the World Series, you don't know what to say," he said.

Dann Dobson, a stadium tax opponent, said critics won't go down without a fight. "We will look into legal options," he said.

The Gophers hope to begin moving roads this summer to make room for the 50,000-seat stadium.

The deal came together after Democratic senators dropped their proposal that would have created a new sports memorabilia tax to help pay for the stadium. Another big step was the reduction in a proposed student fee from $50 a year to $25.

The only audible dissent came from Sen. Mee Moua, DFL-St. Paul, who complained about the fee.

"We have students being compelled to pay a student fee who may not ever attend a game," she said.

University president Robert Bruininks said student government leaders have endorsed the fee.

"I do not think it is unreasonable for students to pay some modest fee as a contribution to the stadium initiative," Bruininks said. "They did back in the 1920s when Memorial Stadium was built."

The state is poised to kick in 55 percent of the stadium cost. The money would come from the general treasury, which will elbow aside other state programs in the constant fight for state money.

The university's share is $110.7 million, which will come from a $35 million naming-rights arrangement with TCF Financial Corp., the student fee and other donations.

Bruininks said not all the money is in hand, but he expects legislative passage to bring "a great deal of energy to private fundraising."

The Twins' bill contains building blocks for the Vikings, which are after a $675 million retractable roof stadium in the northern suburb of Blaine.

Lester Bagley, a Vikings vice president, said owner Zygi Wilf is disappointed that he missed out on approval of the stadium.

"We'll take a breather and charge forward," Bagley said.

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The Metrodome replaced Met Stadium, which used to be in Bloomington. The Mall of America now stands in that site.

(© 2009 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)