5 Firms Compete to Design New Vikings Stadium

One week from tomorrow, we could know which company will design the new Vikings stadium and what it will look like.

Today, the companies hoping to land the job will present their resumes. The Minnesota Sports Facilities Authority says its received proposals for architectural and engineering services from five companies.

One of them is familiar to Minnesotans. Populous designed Target Field, TCF Bank Stadium, and the Xcel Energy Center. The other companies that submitted plans have all designed NFL stadiums within the past decade.

Los Angeles-based AECOM worked on Seattle’s CenturyLink Field, which opened in 2002. According to the facilities website, it features the largest executive suites in professional sports.

The MetLife Stadium, which opened in 2010, is on the resume of EwingCole, a company from Philadelphia. ESPN reports it’s the league’s most expensive stadium with a price tag of $1.6 billion.

HKS Inc. from Dallas designed the Cowboys’ stadium, which opened in 2009 at a cost of $1.2 billion.

Also in the hunt for the Vikings stadium job is HNTB Corporation out of Kansas City. Its Santa Clara Stadium, which will be home to the 49ers, is under construction now.

The new football stadium helped make the Vikings worth $200 million more than last year. Forbes now values the team at $975 million. It was $774 million last year, which is a 21 percent increase. Out of 32 teams, the Vikings moved from 30 to 22.

Four factors determine the value: money that comes in from the league’s TV contract, the market where the team plays, the stadium itself, and the team brand.

The Cowboys are the most valued team at $2.1 billion, and the Jacksonville Jaguars are the worst, worth $770 million.

The Vikings are putting up $477 million for the new stadium.