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Vikings vice president and stadium capo Lester Bagley couldn't make it on Kerri Miller's Mid-Morning show about a 

 this morning. But he did send a tantalizing email. He wrote to producer Ted Canova that the team 

 chip in more than the 1/3 they've talked about paying for an open-air stadium.

"The Twins added additional funds after the bill was passed," Bagley wrote. "Which is likely to occur in a Vikings scenario as well."

So how much more than 1/3 did the Twins kick in for Target Field?

A lot, says the Twins' spokesman Kevin Smith.

He says the team chipped in another $50 million for in-progress upgrades during the construction and got an additional $4.5 from Target for the Target Plaza buildout. He said the Twins threw in another $15 million for buying land, after the court tussle over the stadium site's price. And he says they're tossing in another $4 or $6 million this off season for a new video board, fixes to the outfield and other changes.

All told, he figures its about $200 million of the $545 million the place will cost by opening day 

That calculates out to about 36.7 percent of the bill for the final product, including the $90 million in infrastructure costs.

They weren't the only team to do that, of course. The Minnesota Wild, after signing a deal for the Xcel Energy Center that cost them $3.5 million annually in rent for 25 years, pledged  $30 million more for post-hockey arena-deal upgrades to the $130 million X in 2000.

The question is: Will the Vikings end point look like the Target Field deal? Or is that the new starting point for negotiations for the team's contributions at the Capitol?

Politics and Government News

Capitol View®

Tim Pugmire

Author

The Vikings say they may put some icing on a stadium deal, like the Twins did. But might that get baked into the recipe this time?

Wiggle room for the Vikings?

Go Deeper.

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