NFL Commissioner to meet with Gov. Dayton

• National Football League

National Football League

Talk about it

ST. PAUL - Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton will host an early Tuesday meeting with the National Football League commissioner and sponsors of legislation to build a new Vikings stadium.

Commissioner Roger Goodell is in Minnesota to discuss the $1 billion stadium project, which the Vikings want to build in the northwestern Ramsey County community of Arden Hills.

Rep. Morrie Lanning, R-Moorhead, said he and Sen. Julie Rosen, R-Fairmont, are among those on the pre-breakfast guest list at Dayton’s official state residence. It was not clear if others also would attend.

The meeting comes just before the governor’s regular meeting with legislative Republican leaders, where talks is bound to center on the state budget with a week left in the 2011 legislative session.

Lanning said among his questions will be how much the NFL can do to help fund a new stadium.

While Lanning and Rosen have authored bills that could lead to a new stadium, Lanning said many questions remain. No committee hearing is scheduled on the plan.

Lanning said a major question is how much road upgrades would cost in the area of the 65,000-seat, retractable-roof stadium. That could make it more expensive than lawmakers and Dayton want to pay; they limit any state participation to $300 million.

Also, Lanning said, he has not heard back from Ramsey County as to just how they would need a bill to be worded. He has waited for days for that information.

The Vikings say they will not renew their Metrodome lease after next football season. While team owners say they do not plan to move the Vikings out of Minnesota, there is a possibility the team could be sold if a new stadium is not built.

A new stadium would not just be for the Vikings. It would be used for a variety of sports and other activities, much like the Metrodome.

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Court-mandated talks between NFL owners and players are back on again in Minneapolis. The two sides met for four days last month before U.S. Magistrate Judge Arthur Boylan, who is again presiding. The 8th Circuit Court of Appeals has scheduled a hearing for June 3rd when the panel is expected to rule on whether it will keep the current temporary lockout in place. The NFL's labor issue turned into a court battle when the two sides failed to reach a new collective bargaining agreement and the union decertified in order to file an anti-trust suit against the league.

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