It remains to be seen whether the Minnesota House of Representatives will pass the Vikings stadium bill. If it does, the Vikings and the NFL will have to dig deeper.
As in $105 million deeper.
Patrick Kessler of WCCO-TV reports that the House has adopted an amendment increasing the Vikings’ share from $427 million to $532 million. In turn, the state’s contribution will drop from $398 million to $293 million.
The House defeated a separate amendment moving the stadium from Minneapolis to Arden Hills.
If the amendment with an extra $105 million coming from the Vikings passes, and if the Senate passes the same amended bill, it’s unknown whether the Vikings and the NFL will balk, or whether they’ll kick in the cashish necessary to get it done.
UPDATE: The early reaction to the increased price tag isn’t positive. “After months of negotiation and compromise and the building of a legislative coalition, albeit a fragile one, any meaningful change of the bill drastically changes the probability of success,” NFL executive V.P. Eric Grubman told the St. Paul Pioneer Press. “You can’t change the deal at the last minute.”