Begun, the stadium wars have.

After weeks of hearing about Arden Hills, the Farmers' Market, the Basilica, and the Metrodome site, and with 24 hours left until Governor Dayton's deadline for stadium proposals to be submitted, now the good people of Shakopee have decided that they want to get in on this as well.

The City of Shakopee is proposing a site on a 130 acre lot that sits between Highway 101 and Highway 169. They say it's several times bigger than any of the proposed sites in Minneapolis with room for a 75,000 seat stadium and 22,000 tailgaters.

The City says the total cost would be $920 million which would be paid for with fan fees and a Racino.

130 acres would make it the second-largest proposed site thus far, behind only Arden Hills, and the price tag is around $200 million cheaper. Newly-appointed Senate Majority Leader Dave Senjem has long been a proponent of the racino option for stadium funding as well, so this might be a viable proposal.

I'm not 100% familiar with the Shakopee site. . .to be honest, the only thing from Shakopee I'm familiar with is Valleyfair. (Is Valleyfair still a thing, or has the Mall of America basically made it obsolete?) But if they can give the Vikings some space and kick in a decent part of the funding to go with the contribution that the Minnesota Vikings will be making to things, this dark horse might eventually find its way into the winner's circle.