Just got off the phone with Metropolitan Sports Facilities Commission chair Ted Mondale who clarified a few points about a possible Vikings stadium on Star Tribune land rather than the Metrodome site.

The push would come from the team, not the MSFC, he said. "The Vikings have a non-released analysis of stadium sites," he says. "I've seen it. The Star Tribune site is of great interest to them."

Vikings Assistant Director of Public Affairs Jeff Anderson says the team will not respond to Mondale's assertions about the Strib property. Star Tribune board chair Mike Sweeney says there is "nothing to report."

That leaves the floor to Mondale, Gov. Mark Dayton's recent appointee to head the commission, which oversees the Metrodome and would like to keep the Purple there. He says the Vikings really want to avoid playing games at the smaller TCF Bank Stadium while a new stadium is built. "If they play elsewhere, they want the public to pay $40 million," Mondale notes.

Assuming the team favors downtown Minneapolis despite dalliances with Ramsey County, a new stadium on the Strib side would eliminate that cost. Fans could watch the new stadium rise while the Vikes play in the Metrodome though 2014 or 2015, depending on the construction schedule, Mondale says.

However, buying the Strib land could cost more than $40 million, if an abortive $45 million 2007 deal with the newspaper is any guide. Without a specific design, I don't know if that land is needed for a stadium on the Strib or Dome site.

Contrary to my earlier speculation, a Strib-side stadium wouldn't be roofless (and perhaps $250 million cheaper to build). Mondale asserted that the big news today is the Vikings saying they need a roof. Until now, they haven't insisted on one, saying that if it's included, the public should bear the entire cost.

(Anderson downplayed any newsworthiness, saying the team recognizes a "statewide asset" needs a roof which would increase the price.)

While the Strib reported that the plan would "leave the Metrodome standing to have two facilities and not lose revenue," Mondale says the Dome might not survive the new stadium's opening.

MSFC executive director Bill Lester says the Metrodome costs about $12 million to operate, but earns just $2 million from non-Vikings events. A $900 million stadium is already an enormous pill to choke down; adding a $10 million-a-year subsidy to the finance plan is, well, unhelpful.

There are still enormous hurdles to this enormously expensive plan, not the least of which are whether, and how, the public will pay for it. But if Mondale's sneak peek at the Vikings analysis is any indication, the newspaper site is very much in play.