And the state of Minnesota needs to subsidize his stadium. Rrrrrrr.

Pffft I would give up the Vikings any day to get the North Stars back.

Sorry, dorkus, Zygi wants a stadium, Zygi can build his own stadium. Why should someone who has a.) never been to a Vikings game or b.) no intention of ever going to a Vikings game be forced to have his tax dollars go to building a rich fuck a new stadium for his team?

He and his cronies have more than enough money. Let them foot the bill and in turn reap the profits from it.

The timing of this is so poor that it seems like he's deliberately trying to sabotage the stadium deal.

I LOVE football. I do NOT feel that the state should in any way, shape, or form give a single cent to build Wilf his stadium. 
If another PRIVATELY owned company worth as much as Zygi and the Vikings are told the state that it wanted to build a billion dollar factory but only if the state paid for the majority of it, do you think the state would hike up taxes and do it? Hell no. Do you think the people would be ok with it? Hell no. 
The whole argument that other states have done it we should too is complete bs.
Don't let the Minnesota part of the Vikings fool you Dorkus. MN doesn't own the Vikings, nor do they owe the Vikings a damn thing. 
Again, I LOVE football and I'd hate to see the Vikings go, but MN has way more places their money needs to go than building a rich assholes pleasure palace. This is especially true when Zygi has made it clear that even though several options have been presented, he will only accept Arden Hills with the state paying the bulk, and Zygi making a killing on the surrounding real estate. 
No state funds.

Dorkus = industry sock-puppet?

"...generates more revenue for the state than most of the other spending they do."  ???? You need to back-up a claim like that with something tangible; a study, or news article at least.

What's the return on the investment? Free tickets? Autographed footballs? A portion of the player's salary?

"Why Do Mayors Love Sports Stadiums?"

It's a story that could have been told in almost any American city over the past two decades. Owners of teams in the "big four" sports leagues—the NFL, MLB, NBA and NHL—have reaped nearly $20 billion in taxpayer subsidies for new homes since 1990. And for just as long, fans, urban planners and economists have argued that building facilities for private sports teams is a massive waste of public money. As University of Chicago economist Allen Sanderson memorably put it, "If you want to inject money into the local economy, it would be better to drop it from a helicopter than invest it in a new ballpark."

Studies demonstrating pro sports stadiums' slight economic impact go back to 1984, the year Lake Forest College economist Robert Baade examined thirty cities that had recently constructed new facilities. His finding: in twenty-seven of them, there had been no measurable economic impact; in the other three, economic activity appeared to have decreased. Dozens of economists have replicated Baade's findings, and revealed similar results for what the sports industry calls "mega-events": Olympics, Super Bowls, NCAA tournaments and the like. (In one study of six Super Bowls, University of South Florida economist Phil Porter found "no measurable impact on spending," which he attributed to the "crowding out" effect of nonfootball tourists steering clear of town during game week.)

***

For politicians eager to embrace sports deals, it's easy to find consulting firms willing to produce glowing "economic impact studies"—even though sports economists nearly unanimously dismiss them as hogwash. For example: Economic Research Associates told the city of Arlington, Texas, that spending $325 million on a new stadium for billionaire oil baron Jerry Jones's Dallas Cowboys would generate $238 million a year in economic activity. Critics immediately pointed out that this merely totaled up all spending that would take place in and around the stadium. Hidden deep in the report was the more meaningful estimate that Arlington would see just $1.8 million a year in new tax revenues while spending $20 million a year on stadium subsidies.

Pretty sure that the state's contribution to a stadium isn't coming out of funds earmarked for education or roads.  Sorry, I know it sounds much better to envision crumbling roads and a decimated school system at the expense of a football palace. But everything I've heard from lawmakers has been trying to make it work from new revenue streams.  Things like Racino, a Block E Casino, tax on sports merchandise, or a lottery game. So we can probably dispense with the melodramatic wailing about our tax dollars being wasted.

No, I probably wouldn't support it for another business to this extent.  But I do support helping other businesses to a lesser extent in the manner of TIFs and other incentives that encourage job creating businesses to locate in our community.  

If you want the truth, I'm not crazy about helping out billionaires.  But the sad fact is that this is how this business is done.  No owner, no matter their wealth, foots the entire cost of the stadium anymore. The last one who did was Jack Kent Cooke in D.C.  I would be more apt to play hardball on this if the LA market wasn't sitting and waiting to swoop in and steal a team.  And the Vikings will be sitting here with an expired lease on the least profitable stadium in the NFL. While many on here don't care about sports, many in this state do.  Despite their shitty record, 62,000 people will be in the Metrodome on Sunday.  And thousands more will be watching on tv.  I'm hoping those voices get to be heard as well.

The precedent has already been set for public financing of sports stadiums. The previous stadiums the Vikings have called home have been publicly financed. 
The Wilfs cannot be blamed for requesting public financing for a new stadium, considering that is the accepted practice in the NFL. 
.

i think the common theme here is that just because rich fuckers begging for public money for sports palaces *has been going on* for some time, and people have gotten comfortable with footing the bill for things they won't actually own...doesn't mean it *has to* continue.

I am not saying public stadium financing is a correct practice nor that I agree with it, just that it is the way the NFL currently does business.
In order to change the existing busines model, every or at least a significant number of, cities or states that would be or are home to an NFL team would have to refuse to use public funds to build new stadiums.
Unfortunatley, I don't see that happening any time soon.

Let them leave. That didn't take guts to say. Here, I'll say it again- let them leave.

Let's use the newfound budget surplus and just *give* them a stadium.

Chris, I love football. I do not hate it. I don't feel so so about it. I watch every game I possibly can, and it is the only sport I really care about.
With that said, Zygi pays for this himself; and if he isn't bluffing bout leaving if the state doesn't help? See you later Vikings, enjoy L.A..
I can seperate wants from needs. I WANT the Vikings to stay in MN so when my son is old enough we can go to games and watvh them on tv together.
I NEED the State to quit trying to find ways to fund a stadium and instead find ways to quit cutting rates for organizations like RSI and DRCC so that the individuals who are served by them don't lose vital services, and those who work for companies like that can get pay raises,other than a small COLA increases,  that State cuts have denied them for years. 
I NEED better funding for education so my son has a decent educational enviroment to grow up and suceed in.
I NEED a government that stops making cuts to vital services, all while trying to find new money streams to fund a private business.
You stated early Chris that no monies would be taken from schools or roads or the like for this stadium deal. That is ignorance. Any new revenue streams NOT put towards keeping new cuts from happening to programs that have been cut is taking money from them. Any money that doesn't help restore those programs to previous cut levels is taking money from them.
Zygi can afford to build a new stadium. My employeer DRCC can't afford more cuts before having to stop hiring, cutting back on staff and cutting back on benefits for those who remain.
The stadium might bring in jobs if built Chris and Dorkus, but how many agencies and other businesses will it cause to cut jobs and services. I doubt the balance will be in favor of the jobs that aren't made via a new stadium.
So yep, build it yourself Zygi or good riddance to you and good luck to the Vikings.

It's about time that everybody here consider cheering for the (more directly fan-supported) Packers. :)