The Super Bowl in Minnesota may be an exciting event for the state's governor, but it's also an expensive one.

Mark Dayton had to scour the internet for a four-figure ticket just like everyone else.

An aide to Dayton said the second-term DFL governor paid an internet broker $6,000 for his Super Bowl ticket, which will feature the New England Patriots against the Philadelphia Eagles.

"Well, I'm going to go — with less enthusiasm than I hoped for," Dayton said at a Wednesday news conference, nodding to the Vikings' 38-7 loss to the Eagles Sunday.

Dayton said he was "on my knees praying" that the weekend of the Feb. 4 Super Bowl does not feature the kind of torrential snowfall that hit the Twin Cities Monday.

"I'm going to do everything I can to be a good host," said Dayton, who will attend the game with his two sons.

The Vikings stadium will be a key legacy of Dayton's when he leaves office at the end of the year. He signed legislation that provided almost $500 million of the $1.1 billion cost of its construction, which he said at the time would be the "people's stadium."

But the stadium legacy has been mixed. The Dayton administration faced an ongoing political headache in late 2016 and during the 2017 legislative session after the Star Tribune revealed that government appointees who oversee the stadium got free tickets to two lower-level luxury suites for all events held there. The board of appointees handed over the suites to the stadium's operator in July.

Dayton, who is not known for ostentatious shows of wealth, has family money from the eponymous department store chain and Target, although the family no longer has ties to the company.

J. Patrick Coolican • 651-925-5042