The Vikings can soon send the mortgage to Valhalla.
According to Rochelle Olson of the Minneapolis Star Tribune, a new tax bill will dramatically accelerate the process of paying off U.S. Bank Stadium.
Before July 1, $377 million in bonds on the building will be retired, at a savings of $226 million in interest.
The development is “great news and the latest chapter in a success story that has benefited Vikings fans, the City of Minneapolis and the State of Minnesota,” Vikings executive V.P. of public affairs Lester Bagley told Olson. “It is a significant accomplishment that the Vikings have been advocating for several years.”
Olson notes that the Minnesota legislature did not create a permanent maintenance fund for the facility. The Vikings have been lobbying for such a fund for a long time.
The lease requirement the state to keep the building in a “first-class condition.”
The stadium already has been in existence for seven NFL seasons, hosting a Super Bowl and a Final Four and various other events.