April 14, 2011
Dayton: Vikings deserve new stadium because the Rolling Stones are awesome!
So I wasn't even going to finish reading today's Sid Hartman interview with Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton about his Vikings stadium plans, because Dayton didn't say much new (sample snippet: "I think once they crunch the numbers, you know the cost of the different possible stadiums and locations, we'll have a better idea of which ones fit the economic picture or not"), and also, well, Sid Hartman. But then I got a load of Dayton's rationale for sinking $600 million in taxpayer money into a new stadium, and couldn't let it pass without comment:
"I certainly would hate to see the Los Angeles Vikings along with the Los Angeles Lakers. It would just be a travesty," he said. "It's also what makes us a big-league city. You and I can go back to when the Metrodome was built, that was controversial. [But] here you have had, for that public investment ... two World Series; one Super Bowl; all the athletics, college, high school and amateur; and rollerblading, Rolling Stone concerts and monster truck matches; and all the other uses of that major downtown facility. [It's] been a phenomenal economic return."
First off: If losing a single major-league sports team would cast the Twin Cities into minor-league status — they're one of the smaller metro areas to boast teams in all four major sports leagues — then presumably the local economy collapsed between 1993, when the North Stars left, to 2000, when the Wild arrived? Second, the last time the Rolling Stones played at the Metrodome was in 1997, and I don't think they're coming back. (And even if they did, it would be to the Target Center, where they played in 1999.) And third ... rollerblading?
Mostly, though, the point that Dayton misses (or, more likely, tries to evade) is that almost all those other things can still happen if the Vikings leave. The Metrodome, after all, isn't going anywhere (it needs a new roof, but will get one regardless of whether a new stadium is built), and is perfectly capable of hosting monster trucks and rollerblading even without a 10-day-a-year tenant in the fall to keep it company.
Dayton is right about one thing: The Metrodome was a good investment, but not because of the events that it drew, but rather because it was relatively cheap ($68 million) and because the state of Minnesota negotiated a lease with the Twins and Vikings where they actually paid enough in rent to pay off the public construction cost. No one thinks that, three decades later, the Vikings will agree to that again. But "Send money or we shoot these rollerbladers!" does have a certain ring to it.
Can I get a stadium because the rolling stones are awesome, as well?
Posted by D Train on April 14, 2011 06:32 PM
Yes, the Rolling Stone angle is familiar to us in Santa Clara (which admittedly I've mentioned at this site previously).
I recall the first public city council meeting RE the SC stadium there were CMs expressing hope that Mick and Keith take good care of themselves.
Hey, if you want to relive the nostalgia, in the Oakland stadium we had Robin Trower, Gary Wright, Doobie Bros. et. al. headline shows as recently as, hummm, about 1977...
Posted by Santa Clara Jay on April 14, 2011 06:37 PM
Saint Paul before the Wild came to town was a ghost town. Saint Paul after the Wild came to town is now rivaling Minneapolis. Your premise fails.