Dayton: More Wilf money needed for Vikings stadium

Vikings stadium
Vikings owner Zygi Wilf addresses the media at the Capitol in St. Paul, Minn. Thursday, May 10, 2012.
MPR Photo/Jeffrey Thompson

Gov. Mark Dayton has sent a letter to the Minnesota Sports Facility Authority asking it to negotiate a financial agreement in which the Vikings owners pay for their share of the new stadium from their own resources.

The letter comes after the release of the MSFA audit of Zygi, Mark and Leonard Wilf, chief owners of the Vikings.

From MPR News' Tim Nelson:

Dayton cites Minnesota Public Radio analysis of the deal in calling for less reliance on charging fans for personal seat licenses.

"While the legislation allows stadium builders licenses to be a component of the team's financing, those revenues were not intended to replace the need for the team's owners to make a significant equity or capital contribution."

Dayton even suggests that the stadium builders licenses — another name for personal seat licenses (PSL) — might even be zero, which could force the team to put up more than $150 million of their own money, if their seat license deal is comparable to other recent deals by NFL teams.

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