A new stadium for the Minnesota Vikings would be part-funded by racinos if a late bid to run the joint is successful. The $920million stadium in the city of Shakopee is 30 miles South West of their current location in Minneapolis. The proposed 75,000-seater stadium built on a 130-acre site has room for around 22,000 tailgaters with funding for the project coming from several different sources. The Vikes would pay $300m, $16m per year coming from fans, and $29m taken from slots placed at racetracks.
Significant doubts remain over this proposal and it stems from the submission being made so late in the day. Rep. Morrie Lanning, R-Moorhead, is heading efforts to draft the stadium bill, said: “It would be very difficult for this to go anywhere at this stage in the game.”
Compound this with the tribal opposition to off-reservation gambling industry expansion and you begin to realize that the proposal put forward by Shakopee is a distant one at best. Even if it doesn’t go ahead the push towards changes to gaming laws could see racinos in the near future with the figure on racino revenue estimates standing at $125m per year.
The Ho-Chunk Nation is getting closer to building its latest casino venue. The new venue, built in Beloit, Wisconsin, will cost as much as $200million and create 2,000 jobs for the local area. The 45,000 square foot casino will be made up of 2,200 slots and 50 table games with a 35,000 sq-ft convention centre, including 300 hotel rooms, located right next door. The city of Beloit would benefit with quarterly payments of 2% of the casinos net win made to the city and they would in turn pay 30% of that to Rock County. The project will take at least two years to come to fruition thanks to all the relevant approvals that need to be made.
