{"id":14708,"date":"2012-04-20T08:40:08","date_gmt":"2012-04-20T13:40:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/quotulatiousness.ca\/blog\/?p=14708"},"modified":"2012-04-20T08:40:08","modified_gmt":"2012-04-20T13:40:08","slug":"the-stadium-issue-for-the-minnesota-vikings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/quotulatiousness.ca\/blog\/2012\/04\/20\/the-stadium-issue-for-the-minnesota-vikings\/","title":{"rendered":"The stadium issue for the Minnesota Vikings"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"It’s been a big issue in Minnesota for the entire off-season, but I haven’t been following too closely (not living in the state, I don’t know anything about the issue other than what the StarTribune<\/em> and the Pioneer Press<\/em> have been reporting, leavened with some angst and bile from the various Viking fan blogs).<\/p>\n

In a nutshell, the Vikings have been playing at the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome in Minneapolis for 30 years. Their lease on the building expired at the end of the 2011 season and they’ve been trying to get political support for a new stadium for the last ten years. The stadium debate has gone over the same ground repeatedly, but even when the site is agreed upon and the team and the city appear to be happy with the compromise, it still required the state to provide additional funding … lots of additional funding.<\/p>\n

That’s where what appeared to be a done deal went off the rails earlier this week. The state legislature voted down the state’s share of the funding for the stadium, which appears to have been a rude surprise to both Minneapolis and the team.<\/p>\n

The NFL is now warning Minnesota that the Vikings could move out of state (Los Angeles has been hoping for a team for years now, although given California’s dire financial straits, it’s hard to imagine them putting up any more money than Minnesota might be willing to offer).<\/p>\n

As I wrote back in November<\/a>,<\/p>\n

The Vikings are hoping to get a new stadium built, and the state legislature has been doing what they can to kick the issue down the road every time it\u2019s come up. I don\u2019t have a say in the matter, as I\u2019m not located in Minnesota and I\u2019d probably still cheer for the team even if it moved elsewhere (though it would be a sad thing to see it move after half a century in Minnesota).<\/p>\n

In general, I don\u2019t think governments should build stadiums for professional sports teams, as it\u2019s using tax money to subsidize private profits. If a new stadium is going to generate a profit, the team\u2019s ownership should bear the costs themselves. The fact that they generally don\u2019t \u2014 mostly because politicians don\u2019t want to deal with angry sports fans after the team leaves town \u2014 doesn\u2019t make it right.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

It is quite noteworthy that the question has never actually been asked of the voters — the folks whose taxes will have to subsidize the team’s new stadium — if they are willing to pay. I have to assume that this is because they have indicated in other ways that they are not willing. If that’s the case (and I can’t blame them in the slightest if that’s true), then the Vikings should either pony up enough money to build a stadium without taxpayer assistance, or go looking for a city or a state foolish enough to pour more money into the pockets of the team’s ownership. Here once again are Nick Gillespie and Matt Welch on why public funding for professional sports facilities are a bad idea:<\/p>\n