Owner: Wild wouldn't leave St. Paul for Wolves arena

Why it matters: The comments show Leipold's commitment to downtown St. Paul, even as the Wild's pitch for public money to upgrade the recently renamed Grand Casino Arena has failed to gain traction.

Catch up quick: For the last two years, the team and St. Paul Mayor Melvin Carter have argued the 25-year-old, city-owned arena — formerly known as "Xcel Energy Center" — needs major upgrades to remain relevant.

• In March, they asked state lawmakers to pick up half of a $769 million upgrade to the arena and neighboring Roy Wilkins Auditorium.
• They later shrunk their request to an arena-only project requiring only $50 million in state funding.

Reality check: Requests for state bonding money require bipartisan support, and stadium projects have become a tough sell in both the GOP and DFL legislative caucuses.

Zoom out: Building a privately financed arena might allow Wolves/Lynx owners Marc Lore and Alex Rodriguez to avoid these complicated Capitol politics, thought their idea may still hinge on other public subsidies such as a property tax exemption. (They haven't released specifics of their arena plans.)

• Lore told the Star Tribune in June he "envision[ed]" an arena anchoring a downtown Minneapolis entertainment district, but the search for a location could extend beyond downtown.