What happened to the U.S. Bank Stadium? Minnesota Vikings’ home set to cost $280M in maintenance charges
The Vikings have called the U.S. Bank Stadium home for the last seven seasons, but the stadium will be getting a massive uplift. As stated in a report by The Star Tribune, the stadium will need around $280 million in renovations and improvements to stay in "top condition" over the next decade. That amount includes an astounding $48 million in 2024.
Both the Vikings’ organization and Minnesota taxpayers make annual payments to the stadium's capital improvement fund, which reportedly currently has $16 million in the account. In Minnesota's proposed state budget via Governor Tim Walz, there was a section that set aside $15.7 million to cover the first phase of the outside around the building.
WOW: U.S. Bank Stadium, home of the Minnesota #Vikings, which opened in 2016, will need 280 million dollars in maintenance over the next decade, and $48 million will be required within the next year, per @rochelleolson of the @StarTribune.
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The stadium's audio-visual room, one of the key locations for U.S. Bank's production value for events, is estimated to need $14 million in funding alone for maintenance costs. Each section of the stadium was labeled good, fair, or worn in an architectural evaluation.
Good conditions meant they were well-kept, while fair conditions were connected to some signs of needing fixing soon. Worn means to fix it immediately. Sections labeled as worn-down included weather stripping on doors and a damaged concession sign at the stadium's top levels.
Also, an in-house stadium TV distribution system is "nearing the end of its life," per the evaluation. The Minnesota Vikings' home stadium hosted Super Bowl 52 in 2018 when the New England Patriots faced the Philadelphia Eagles.
Cost of Vikings stadium and team valuation
The cost of the U.S. Bank Stadium was $1.1 billion when it opened in 2016. At the time, it was the biggest public-private project in Minnesota's history. The city of Minneapolis contributed $150 million and the state's taxpayers threw in $348 million. The team's owners, the Wilf family, paid the rest of the balance. According to Forbes, the franchise has a team valuation of $3.825 billion.