That settles it then. Leave the people of Minnesota out of it! No money for Zippy!

Can you do a reality check on what exactly will be built with the 1 billion plus. Who will own each component? parking lots, office buildings, stadium? How much vacant land is involved and who will own that?

Here is what Kessler DIDN’T tell you….. The Dallas Cowboys got $150 MILLION from the NFL to build their new stadium— I have yet to hear from the NFL of contributing ANYTHING to help US build a new stadium. Zigi wants to spend $19 MILLION on a stupid CONDO in NY, FINE. HE doesn’t need our taxpayer dollars to build a stadium for ‘modern day slaves’.

And Minnesota’s share would be the highest in the NFL. That is obscene.

Bye Wilf

Well that sort of puts a new perspective on the issue.

So WIlf’s contribution is really only $225 mil when all is said and done, eh?

Interesting. Im for a tax paid stadium…but not when the dollars being paid out is THAT unbalanced.

I wish I only had to pay 38% of the value for MY home…….

Maybe we werent getting the best deal after all. Lets pay for our schools,police,fire and our mortgages first. I for one would like to use the bogus 876 million on reducing my property tax. Work first play later.

Well done Pat Kessler!!! I’m very impressed, thank you for the refreshing perspective and much needed reporting on this. At a time when the media (including WCCO) appears to be the lap dog for the liberal left, you reach into your back pocket and bring out a confrontational position such as this. I can tell you, it was not what I expected from you Pat, but I can’t tell you how nice it is to see a balance on the topic for a change.

Speaking of which, can you do a “reality check” on the bias balance of the news media? It would have to be a pretty comprehensive study of a slice of time instead of a “sampling” so to speak.

Zygi is targeting three types of politician:

-The corrupt: Their next campaign will be financed by Zygi.

-The gullible: They believe there is an economic reason to give Zygi public money…even though ALL studies show the opposite.

-The weak: Keep pestering these sheep and eventually they’ll cave.

So, contact your representative and ask them which they are.

More bailouts for millionaires by taxpayers!! Rich people telling the middle class and the poor this will benefit you. For example MN Revenue doesn’t want to lose the payroll taxes of the Viking players. The flip side when MN let the Northstars go, they worked very hard to get another NFL team and build the very nice xcel center. Also the Timberwolves are whining their stadium is over twenty years old… Let’s hope MN doesn’t campaign for Olympics. You know who will pay for that to be built, and continued maintenance. STOP THE MADNESS!

NO MONEY FOR A STADIUM…..let these rich b’terds pay for it themselves, the players, the management, the owners. Between all of them they should easily have enough money to pull it off….NO TAXPAYER MONEY should go to this…..the way they make such a stink you’d think that people would be dying enmass if there was no football team—-heres a fact—-WE DO NOT NEED THEM OR EVEN WANT THEM AT THIS STAGE…….i’d be glad to see them go to LA……buh bye greedy fools.

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[...] Wilf vs. Vikings Stadium #Wilfare Contributions Dec.07, 2011 in Politics, Vikings Pat Kessler’s Reality Check segment on 12/7 took on the oft-repeated Vikings talking point that the team is “contributing” the 3rd [...]

[...] “Minnesota Vikings” are contributing $425 million towards a new stadium. That’s the third largest amount given by a team in the history of the [...]

so let’s look at some math. Roughly 500 people work every game day either in stadium preparation, security, food preparation, ushers, etc. 500 people making let’s say 30k each that’s 15 million in annual salary that would lose their jobs. The state loses state income tax on their checks of 6% or roughly 900k annual.

Having a team in MN with players, coaches, and owners making a combined salary in the range of 150 million would be a tax loss each year of 9 million in state payroll tax revenue.

Property taxes for a building of that size have to be around 1 million income to the state each year.

Hotels, restaurants, bars, and taverns take in around 3 million per season related to people going out to see the games and spend money. Those sales are taxed at 7.5% sales tax or roughly 150k. Oh yeah and if the team moves those same restaurants will be laying off employees or closing doors so there goes another 500 or so jobs and a couple businesses. Don’t forget those employees are paying income tax around 6% on 30k each so another 900k in lost tax revenue for the state.

Let’s not forget about the additional people losing jobs or paycheck revenue for the state, advertising companies (making commercials), manufacturing companies (making viking gear for fans), companies with contracts from everything from snow removal, upkeep, maintenance, installing seats, electronics, parking attendants in nearby lots, private security…the list goes on). So in short we can safely assume another 1,000-2,000 people will have loss of income at 30k per year or 60 mil with state payroll tax loss of 7.5% each or roughly 4 million per year in lost state revenue.

Oh yeah and don’t forget those people will be OUT OF WORK, BUSINESSES WILL CLOSE….I’m sure plenty will sign up for welfare, MN Care, etc….so in the end it’s better for the economy, jobs, and the state to keep the vikings here. Of course being a fan I’m a little biased…but honestly so many jobs, people, businesses, and state revenue are involved it only makes sense to come up with some type of solution and keep vikings in MINNESOTA.

There are way more productive public investments than places to worship aggression. That said, it’s part of our nature, and if deemed so, they should design it from the inside looking out, to see it integrated into the scheme and function of the city.

Paying for it is not like a federal stimulus that can be just printed through “quantitative easing”, which dilutes the world’s dollars, not just ours. State borrowing just hits residents. However, if it’s deemed so, a tax on internet sales and one on securities transactions do the least harm and the greatest good.

I don’t care if the stadium is tax payer funded. I don’t care if Wilf is “only” contributing 225 Million. I love the Vikes. They have been a part of my life, for my entire life, and I don’t want to see them leave.
Let’s get it done with gambling, taxes, donations, etc etc etc. Just get it done.

Does anyone have the figures about the north stars and wild? How much would a new north stars arena have cost us in the early ’90′s, and compare that with what we actually paid to build Xcel energy center, and lure an expansion team back to MN. If anyone has some figures, please share. Thanks

It is not “true” that the Vikings proposed $425 million is the third highest ever.

Generously assuming that financing was approved in 2000 (it was probably earlier), the following three stadiums were built in 2002 with higher inflation adjusted team contributions:

The Lions contributed $346M for Ford Field, which would be $455M in 2011.

The Patriots contributed $336M for Gillette Stadium, which would be $441M in 2011.

The Eagles contributed $330M for Lincoln Financial Field, which would be $433M in 2011.

So, now the Vikings are down to 6th highest ever on the 3rd most expensive stadium ever.

all vikes fans suk

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