The Vikings stadium poll results
Home Field Advantage, the coalition of labor and business groups backing a new Vikings stadium in Minneapolis, released the results today of the statewide poll it commissioned. The group asked 1,000 Minnesota voters what they thought about the ongoing stadium debate.
The top lines: 73 percent of respondents are following the issue closely (only 9 percent say they aren't following it closely); 61 percent say that they like the financing plan that involves gambling proceeds, Minneapolis hospitality taxes and the Vikings contribution; 72 percent say it's somewhat or very important that the team stay in Minnesota.
You can read the full results, including breakouts for Duluth and Rochester here.
The poll was conducted by Mason-Dixon Polling and Research Inc, and had a published margin of error of plus or minus 3.2 percent. It was sponsored by Home Field Advantage, a coalition of stadium supporters created by the Minneapolis Downtown Council, the Minneapolis Regional Chamber of Commerce and Meet Minneapolis, the city's convention and visitors authority.
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Interestingly, the results from Home Field Advantage don't entirely reflect the "survey instrument" that seems to have originated the poll. That one has more questions, and they're the really interesting ones. You can read the survey questions here.
Specifically, the survey asked who'd be held responsible if the Vikings didn't get a new stadium and left. The list:
City of Minneapolis
Governor Mark Dayton
The Minnesota Legislature
The Minnesota Vikings
Did not respond and none of the above were options, but not listed.
But that ranking gets right to the heart of stadium politics right now. Downtown Council Chairman Sam Grabarski declined to disclose the results. When asked, he said:
"If you want to know what the public at large is thinking, remember most are watching this carefully. Most want to keep the Vikings in Minnesota, and most are supporting the plan that's on the table. And so the answers were they're holding us all responsible, literally. Everybody was mentioned. And particular, the public gets its information from news sources such as yours, and so they're very focused on the Legislature, the governor, the Vikings, to get the job done. But in point of fact, we were all mentioned. It should come as no surprise, that between the Vikings and the Legislature, they want those parties to get the job done."
That may be true, but it looks like Mason-Dixon did ask the question, and the company is usually more definite than "coming as no surprise." Asked specifically about the options offered to survey respondents, Grabarski again demurred about how the parties involved might rank in the blame game.
"Nearly half of the respondents are focused on the fact that the Legislature has another month to get this job done. So nearly half of the respondents, if they mentioned, they mentioned the Legislature. But remember, everybody was mentioned."