One stadium solution: Own ’em
State Rep. Phyllis Kahn says she's got a great idea for funding a new NFL stadium in Minnesota: Sell the Vikings.
Or part of them, anyway.
She's drafted legislation calling on the NFL to lift its ban on public ownership of league clubs. The NFL now limits ownership to 30 parties. Kahn says the team could sell stock and put the proceeds towards a new stadium.
She proposed a similar plan for the Twins back in 2005 -- an idea that at least made it to the floor of both the House and Senate that year, as the baseball team rounded third toward its own new stadium. Her proposal was thrown out at the plate.
She says the system is working in Green Bay, where the Packers are planning a $130 million stock sale by the end of this year to pay for Lambeau Field upgrades.
Barring a surprise change of heart by the NFL, Kahn says she'd like to see a few dozen people with "deep pockets" buy up the 70 percent of the team that NFL rules currently allow. And as a last resort, she's pitching what might be called an NFL derivative, if Wall Street hadn't made it a dirty word: sales of "certificates of participation" by the NFL could raise money and give holders a potential veto of any team relocations.
"I'm not holding my breath," says the Minneapolis DFLer.
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