Vikings' U.S. Bank Stadium Paid Off 23 Years Ahead of Schedule
Thanks to a tax bill signed by Minnesota Governor Tim Walz in May, U.S. Bank Stadium — the Vikings' $1.1 billion home since 2016 — will be paid off by the end of this month, according to the Star Tribune's Rochelle Olson.
$377 million in outstanding bonds that were scheduled to be paid off in 2046 will instead be paid off 23 years ahead of schedule, saving Minnesota taxpayers $226 million in interest.
The governor proposed the payoff in his budget in January. In a session full of big changes, the stadium payoff passed without much attention or friction. The governor didn't even mention it at his bill-signing celebration on the Capitol lawn Wednesday.
While the effort to build the stadium took years of fraught discussions and full-press lobbying by the Vikings, the early payoff was tucked into a giant bill that included $3 billion in tax cuts and $1 billion in new tax revenue. The bill passed the House last weekend and the Senate on Monday.
Vikings Vice President Lester Bagley said the decision 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. It is a significant accomplishment that the Vikings have been advocating for several years."
The main source of tax revenue that allowed this to happen? Electronic pull-tabs, which were legalized in the state in 2012. Over the years, e-tab revenue soared past the amount bookmarked for annual debt payments, making this a possibility.
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