Like pretty much everything ever attempted to be built within a budget, the new Viking stadium is going over its budget. And with the Minnesota Legislature placing a hard cap on the public contribution, any extra money spent on the project will come from the Vikings and/or the NFL.
Sid Hartman of the Minneapolis Star Tribune speculates that, in the end, the private contribution could increase by more than $100 million.
Last fall, the private contribution climbed by up to $41.5 million. Another $2 million will go to the addition of 18 suites at the venue, pushing the total number of big-ticket game-watching rooms to 116. Last week, the team announced that another $1.3 million will be added for escalators, elevators, and anywhere from 800 to 2,000 televisions.
“It’s a work in progress,” Vikings V.P. Lester Bagley told Hartman. “Just like when you renovate your house and you get your numbers in from your contractor and you have to decide: Do you want a $1,000 sink or a $500 sink?”
With $498 million in public funds already committed to the project, it’s easy for the Vikings to justify plunking down more money to make the stadium what it was envisioned to be. No matter how much the final cost, the taxpayers eventually agreed to cough up nearly half a billion in order to ensure that the team will stick around over the long haul.