Minnesota Vikings: City of Shakopee Throws in Last-Minute Bid for New Stadium

Per the St. Paul Pioneer Press, on the eve of the Stadium Plan deadline, the City of Shakopee has made their bid to bring a new Minnesota Vikings' stadium south of the river.

The proposed plan would have a $920 million stadium built between highways 101 and 169, just across the street from Valley Fair.  The location and cost of this plan could actually make it a dark horse to win the favor of the Vikings and legislators—seeing that the Arden Hills and Minneapolis sites are surrounded by controversy and disagreement.

Reportedly, the proposed Shakopee site would allow for 75,000 seats and 22,000 tailgaters. This brings the best of both plans together—the size and ability to develop of Arden Hills, and the lower cost of the Minneapolis sites.

The site would be funded by the same Racino plan that supported the Minneapolis sites.

Keeping the stadium location in the southwest metro area would allow the Vikings to keep their headquarters in Eden Prairie (only minutes away), which would not only save money for the Vikings organization, it would allow the team to travel to Mankato more easily every summer—where they've held their training camps since 1966.

The only deterrent of the plan from a superficial view would be that it is certainly the farthest from the Twin Cities downtown areas, as it is around 25 miles from downtown Minneapolis. However, being that construction on Highway-169 at 494 will provide for a much smoother commute across the Minnesota River, this site really could become closer than once thought.

Being that the location would be directly across the street from Minnesota's premiere amusement park—Valley Fair—the potential birds-eye-view could really make for a beautiful picture for televised games.

Officials from the Vikings, the city of Shakopee and Minnesota legislators will meet today (Wednesday, January 11th) and a press conference will be held to address the proposal at 4 p.m.