Flawed or not, the stadium financing figures aren’t the only numbers that have come to light in recent weeks. \u00a0We now know how much Zygi Wilf and company spent in their multi-year lobbying effort to build a stadium in the exact same location as their current home – $4,270,000<\/a>.<\/p>\n Via MPR’s Capitol View and Paul Tosto<\/p><\/div>\n The Vikings were the 6th largest lobbyist group (by dollars spent) in the last six years. \u00a0And while the $610,000 spent last year as the stadium was finally approved was a drop in the bucket of the estimated $54 million spent by all lobbyist groups in 2012<\/a>, the $1.5 million used by the Vikings during 2011-12 would have made them the 3rd largest lobbyist of the cycle. Even lobbying powerhouse Education Minnesota spent slightly less at the Capitol in that period. \u00a0Purple pride indeed.<\/p>\n $4.2 million for $975 million is a tremendous value (although the Vikings spent millions more in stadium-related advertising). \u00a0But the end product may not look like such a deal if the financing structure collapses in on itself. \u00a0Which begs the question – what happens when the State finally admits the pull-tab solution isn’t working?<\/a><\/p>\n The state’s $498 million share of the $975 million project is to be paid for through sales of electronic pull-tabs. But the final two pages of the stadium bill provide for two “blink-on” funding provisions as backups. The first is an NFL-themed lottery and the second, if necessary, is a 10 percent tax on luxury suites.<\/p>\n And what of the doomsday scenario, where all three provisions fall short of the money required for the state’s annual payments? At that point, from what I can tell, the state would have to produce money from its general fund — something Gov. Mark Dayton promised not to do when campaigning for the facility.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Would either of these other solutions generate the revenue necessary? \u00a0A Vikings-themed lotto doesn’t sound fundamentally different than the pull-tab concept. \u00a0The Minnesota Lottery brought in $123 million in profit<\/a> last year, but that’s among 9 different games<\/a>. \u00a0A 10th lotto isn’t likely to expand the number of people playing, only shrink the total amount left that would otherwise go into the State’s coffers. \u00a0Besides, over 70% of the funds generated by the lottery go either to paying winners or towards lottery administration.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.shotinthedark.info\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/graph.jpg\" "\\"graph\\"")
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