Reality Check: Minnesota's Sports Facilities Building Boom
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- Minnesota's new major league soccer franchise may be closing in on a location for its new home: a privately-financed $150 million, 20,000 seat soccer stadium in St. Paul or Minneapolis.
It would be the seventh large stadium in the Twin Cities in the last 25 years, part of a sports facilities building boom that's producing a new stadium about every four years.
In the last 25 years, Minnesota taxpayers helped pay for six professional sports facilities, beginning with Target Center for the Timberwolves in 1990, which cost $104 million to build, with $23 million in public financing.
Then, Xcel Energy Center for the Wild cost $130 million, with $95 million in public financing.
Target Field for the Twins cost $545 million, with $392 million in public financing.
TCF Bank for the Gophers cost $298 million to build, with $149 million in public financing.
CHS Field for the St. Paul Saints cost $63 million to build, with $53 million in public funding.
And U.S. Bank Stadium for the Minnesota Vikings is costing $1 billion to build, with $498 million in public financing.
If the Minnesota United soccer franchise builds its new stadium, there would be seven large sports venues in the Twin Cities. In comparison, Chicago has 7, New York City has 9, and sports-crazy London has the most with 25.
Not including soccer, the total cost of all of Minnesota's big sports facilities since 1990 is $2.131 billion. Of that amount, $1.21 billion came from the pockets of Minnesota taxpayers.
That's Reality Check.