Vikings Stadium Bill Passes House

Editor's note: This story was updated at 8:52 a.m. Tuesday morning. 

The Minnesota Vikings are safe ... so far. 

At 10:34 p.m. Monday night, the House of Representatives passed the Vikings stadium bill 73-58.

Passage came as a surprise to some lawmakers who were predicting a much closer vote before 42 amendments were added to the House version. Among the amendments was a change authored by Rep. Pat Garofalo (R-Farmington) which called for the Vikings to put up $105 million more than originally offered.

Interviewed after the vote, Vikings vice president Lester Bagley called the additional $105 million "problematic" and said it was a condition that is "unworkable." 

Inver Grove Heights Rep. Joe Atkins clarified that Bagely did not say the extra money was a deal-killer. "He was much stronger on the naming rights issue, saying the condition about the State getting the naming rights was 'unworkable'," Atkins said. 

Atkins detailed a few other important amendments from his seat on the House floor Monday night.

The major changes: 1) A lower state investment as a result of the State capturing some of the naming rights revenue; and 2) A sharing with the State of a percentage of the profits in the event the team is sold, a provision that was also included in the Target Field legislation a couple years ago. 

The Minnesota Senate is scheduled to take up its deliberations on the stadium bill early Tuesday morning. The Senate will see the original version of the bill—not the one including the amendments that passed in the House.

If the Senate passes a version of the bill, it will be sent to conference committees where a final version—one that negotiates a resolution to all the House and Senate amendments—will be sent back to the House and Senate for a final vote then to Gov. Mark Dayton's desk to be signed into law.