The process of funding the maintenance and upgrades of institutional and commercial facilities rarely plays out in public, which makes the situation in Minnesota all the more interesting. Discussions among local sports franchises, state lawmakers and taxpayers reveal the dynamic at work surrounding public funds for private sports franchises, as well as the challenges all facilities managers face in securing funding to repair, maintain and upgrade their facilities.
Tens of millions of dollars in public funding for Minnesota pro sports facilities face long odds as lawmakers grapple with the state’s fiscal challenges, according to the Minnesota Star Tribune. Lawmakers are likely to delay the requests to 2026 and instead study the teams’ various proposals. The studies will give Minnesota’s sports teams and their civic backers the chance to answer one key question:
Why should taxpayers pay for the upkeep of facilities that they already helped to build and where pro sports teams worth billions play?
Team and facility officials note teams typically cover all their game-day expenses, pay millions in annual rent and put millions more into capital accounts used for maintenance.
But that is not enough to cover ongoing costs and future renovations. The NFL’s Minnesota Vikings and MLB’s Minnesota Twins say they need ongoing tax revenue to avoid hundreds of millions of dollars for a facility overhaul a decade from now.
That is the position the leaders of sports franchises find themselves in — even after the arena has gotten some updates over the years — and they got a cool reception at the Legislature. They recently scaled back their state funding request from $395 million to just $50 million.
Dan Hounsell is senior editor for the facilities market. He has more than 30 years of experience writing about facilities maintenance, engineering and management.?
