Minnesota Legislature Stadium Testimony
2012-05-10 · Kevin Warren, EVP Legal Affairs & Chief Administrative Officer (Vikings)
The Minnesota Legislature was considering a $1.13B stadium deal with $498M in public funding. The Vikings presented economic impact claims based on a 2009 CSL study to justify the public investment.
What he said
The Vikings stadium project will create 13,000 jobs supported during construction, including 7,500 construction and trades workers. We estimate 4.3 million work hours with $300 million in construction wages.
Post-completion, the stadium will support 3,400 full and part-time jobs. Over 90% of materials and labor will come from Minnesota.
Total construction spending in Minnesota will be $734 million, generating $1.4 billion in total economic output. Annual tax revenue from the stadium operations: $26 million. Direct spending by Vikings fans annually: $145 million. Personal income taxes from construction: $33.2 million.
This stadium will be a regional asset that will serve this community on a daily basis and become an exciting destination.
The fact-check
- "The Vikings stadium project will create 13,000 jobs supported during construction, including 7,500 construction and trades workers." — Unverifiable
- Economic impact projections based on team-commissioned studies. Methodology uses aggressive multipliers rarely validated ex-post.
- "This stadium will be a regional asset that will serve this community on a daily basis and become an exciting destination." — Rhetoric
- Standard community asset framing used to justify public stadium funding. Same language Warren uses for Bears project.